Extra Dimension Neptunia: Malicious Code
by Arthain
Summary: With a Viral War on the horizon, malicious code lurking behind every bush and spyware boring its way through the nations defenses, the CPUs of Gamindustri are going to have to find allies and band together to save all that they hold dear. But not without having a little fun first.
1. The Lazy Goddess

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hyperdimension Neptunia. All characters, thoughts and ideas that exist in this story that were taken from the original works belong to their creators, Compile Heart and Idea Factory. Only original thoughts and or characters created in this story are my own.**

As of this moment there are two types of page breaks:

**x~X~x - **This will appear when there is a complete change of scene or there is an extended time break (for example the passage of time between one day and the next).

**~o~ - **This will appear when there is a shift in perspective of the current scene, or the time difference between one scene and the next isn't very large and the scenes are connected.

**Author's Notes:** This Author's Note may seem long, but it's really the only one that I'll have in my story aside from the odd small exception here or there. It's essentially laying down some groundwork and expectations for you, my readers as well as some explanations as to why certain things may end up the way they are.

First off, while this story will have some drama (I can't not have drama in my stories) it's not going to be a major theme. This story is intended to be most humor with some seriousness mixed in. I wish to delve into an area I'm not particularly experienced or comfortable with to help my own growth as a writer, and hopefully entertain the readers at the same time.

The story will be entirely in English. Since there are full dubbed English versions of this game, and they're the only ones I have played, I'm going with that as a basis, so no Japanese honorifics or anything. If I had to decide which version of HDN this was most closely linked to, I'd say HDN MK2, as I hated Iris Heart with a passion that is almost holy and there aren't any sisters in the first. However it is NOT the MK2 dimension, it's a different dimension, more of an amalgamation of the history of the first HDN with the environment and characters of the second and elements from all other source materials (including the Re;Birth series, VII, anime and manga) added in whenever they fit. Considering the nature of the universe, I consider all source material as valid.

The fourth wall is going to break and crumble at times (that's pretty much one of the main calling cards of HDN). There will also be jokes and comments that will, unfortunately, go over the heads of those that aren't familiar with the game, or my earlier works.

I will do my utmost to keep the characters, well, in character. There is a slight problem with this as it seems that the HDN character's personalities actually change slightly from game to game and from dimension to dimension. Considering this story takes place in an entirely different Gamindustri dimension, I don't feel I need to be 100% faithful, only about 75% or so. Of course some things WILL remain, Neptune's ditzy/carefree attitude, Blanc's temper, Vert's pride in her breasts and more 'mature' attitude, Noire's tsundere, etc., etc., Basically the common elements that always seem to arise in each version I will do my utmost to retain, but there will be differences.

And finally, I'm going to go with the assumption that my readers know nothing about HDN. For those of you that do, please bear with the expositions. There is a lot to explain for those unfamiliar with the game. On the same theme if you want images to go with the explanations, check out either of the two Hyperdimension Neptunia wikias, they have a host of images that will help a lot. Just remember, when it comes to outfit, I'm going with the Hyperdimension Neptunia Mk2 outfits, not Victory (the original and Mk2 have the same outfits if I recall correctly).

One last quick note, I will be using Goddess and CPU (Console Patron Unit) interchangeably. In HDN they mean the same thing.

Now, without further ado, let's start the story!

**Extra Dimension Neptunia: Malicious Code  
**

**Chapter 1: The Lazy Goddess**

The heroine marched proudly down the hallway towards the pair of large, intricately carved ornate gold doors at the end. Her enchanted magical boots, a gift from the Fairy Goddess for rescuing her daughter, clicked off the beautiful marble floor with each step. To either side, in regular intervals, were delicate looking marble pillars that rose high into the air where they supported the stained glass ceiling that arched overhead.

She was decked head to toe in enchanted armor: The breastplate of the Legendary Heroine, the leg guards of the Indomitable, the Gauntlets of Annihilation, and even the super rare necklace of a thousand puddings that one had to farm a secret dogoo rare spawn in the Hidden Spring of Eternal Life a hundred times to get!

Her short purple hair was completely concealed by the Helm of the Ancients, an enchanted helmet that had been given to her by the Ancient Spirit of the Forest. It even came with the super rare +6 Appetite bonus so that she had extra room for puddings. Out from within the depths purple, eyes shone with excitement at the prospect of the battle to come.

The heroine came to a stop just before the large doors and grinned excitedly. She was going this alone, having left all her companions behind. She was the main character after all, she didn't need any help with this!

Oh, but one of them did manage to sneak out and join her. He had been with them for a while, he was a big help providing her with information and sneaking her snacks just before bedtime when the others weren't aware of it.

He was okay in her books, anyone that brought her custard pudding as a snack was A-ok!

She laid her hand on the door and took a deep breath.

"YAH!" the heroine shouted as she shoved the doors open and leapt through without a thought or care.

The room was dark, the back half was completely invisible from her vantage point. The lighting in this room was suitable for the final encounter with the big final boss. She could see pillars rising into the air all around the room, their forms dimly lit by dark purple light that seemed to sluggishly ooze their way up them.

"So you finally made it here, how pitiful, if it was me I would have been here ages ago," a soft feminine voice spoke from the dark shadows deep within the room.

"Come out and face me you villain!" the heroine shouted as she pulled out Laevataeinn, the legendary blade that was said to surpass all others, it had cost her a fortune to buy it from the shop next door. "Your reign of tyranny is at an end! Gamindustri will not become a monopoly for you to play with!"

She knew she could win, she had all the best gear, she had farmed for weeks to get it all, and she had her trusty friend supply her with custard puddings. She couldn't lose, not with a belly fully of custard pudding!

"And why should I do that? You have yet to defeat the last mini-boss," the deep, familiar voice replied.

"I HAVE beaten all of your minions! Face me like a coward!" the heroine shouted, not caring that she wasn't making any sense.

Laughter boomed off the walls, echoing endlessly around the room, making the heroine take a single hesitant step back.

"There is still one left, isn't that right, Minion A?" the voice asked.

"Yes M'Lady," the heroine's companion said as he bowed before the darkness. He stood up, drew his blade, and pointed it at the heroine, "I'm sorry, I truly am, words can't express how much it pains me to do this."

"Wait WHAT!? What sort of development is this!" the heroine cried out as she jumped to the side and whirled around to face her companion, "you're a double agent?"

"I had no choice…"

"No choice?" the voice laughed from the darkness, "You did it willingly, you did it for me, you even SUGGESTED it, and you will continue to serve me until the end!"

The heroine suddenly felt very ill, she collapsed to one knee and puked up her precious custard pudding, "Holy crapparoni, who stuck one of the horsemen of the apocalypse in my stomach?"

"I'm sorry, I really am, I laced your pudding with virus and poison," the heroine's companion said sadly.

"How could you DO such a thing! The poor pudding! What did it ever do to you?" the heroine cried out, more aghast at his affront to the pudding than his betrayal.

"Because I ordered him to," the voice spoke from the darkness once more.

"You're pure evil!" the heroine cried out as she climbed to her feet and pointed her sword at her former companion, "I won't fall here! I'm the main character!"

"I really am sorry... I lo—"

The screen went dark.

"WHAT!?" Neptune cried out in surprise and outrage as her game suddenly shut off. "No! It was just getting to the good part! I haven't saved my game in over seventy-two hours!"

"NEPTUNE! What are you doing?!" Histoire shouted at her charge angrily.

Histoire's charge, Neptune, looked like a small girl, only 146cm tall. She had vibrant purple eyes and short purple hair with long side burns with a pair of hairclips on either side of her head in the shape of white directional pads. Her clothing consisted of a pair of purple sneakers, thigh high blue and white stripped socks, and an over-sized white hoody with purple and pink striped fringes. The hoody was definitely custom made as the zipper was enormous and emblazoned with a large purple N, the pockets on either looked like miniature round, pink and white medical bags, and the elastic band used to tighten the hood were capped off with USB connectors. She wasn't wearing anything on her legs. Anyone sitting behind her as she laid stomach first on her pink bean bag would be able to see up her hoody to a pair of blue and white striped panties.

"Oh hi Histy!" Neptune said as she turned around on the bean bag she was lying on and beamed a bright smile at her Oracle, Histoire.

Histoire, Neptune's Oracle, was a small fairy like being with pink and blue wings that sat upon an open book that floated several feet off the ground. The book was special as it possessed all the knowledge of the world. Unfortunately because there was SO much knowledge, it took Histoire three days to find anything.

Histoire herself, aside from being small enough to fit in a brown paper bag and the wings, looked like an ordinary girl with bright blue eyes and brilliant golden locks that flowed down to her shoulders. She wore a thigh length purple and white dress that had purple sleeves with white cuffs that left the shoulders and upper arms bare. Thigh high white stockings covered her legs and on her feet were a pair of white shoes. A bright blue tie was held in place with a round pin with a purple N emblazoned on it. The ensemble was finished off with a white and purple tiara like headdress that that was emblazoned with a purple N as well.

Each major power in Gamindustri had an Oracle to help with the day to day tasks of running the nation. The small things were usually handled by the Oracles so that the Goddess they served could focus on the more important things, such as building shares.

Shares were the single most important currency in Gamindustri. When a resident of Gamindustri develops faith towards a particular Goddess, that Goddess gains a single share representing that particular individual. The more faith a Goddess generates, the more shares they obtain. The more shares they obtain the better and stronger the economy of the respective nation becomes. Faith translates into actual currency as someone that believes in their Goddess will go out of their way to purchase goods, such as games, systems, and plushy dolls, of their respective Goddess. This faith also aids the Goddess' themselves as they receive a significant boost in power during their Hard Drive Divinity (HDD) transformation.

Neptune was the Goddess of one of those major powers, Planeptune, and Histoire was her Oracle.

A Goddess, sometimes called a Console Patron Unit or CPU, had two names; one for her normal state, one for her transformed state. Neptune was the name of Planeptune's CPU in her normal state, while Purple Heart was her name in her HDD form.

"Why are you just lazing around all day?!" Histoire shouted at Neptune, "A Goddess has many important duties they—"

"Oh, that stuff can all wait for another day," Neptune said as reached over to her console to turn it back on.

The screen remained dark.

"Huh?" Neptune said curiously as she peered around the back of the console.

A pulsating vein appeared on Histoire's forehead, "NEPTUNE!"

"Ah ha!" She found the problem, "have you seen the power cord Histy?" Neptune asked curiously, noticing that it appeared to be missing from the console.

"Stop ignoring me Neptune!" Histoire shouted at the small purple-haired girl.

"Oh! There it is!" Neptune said as she glanced across the room and saw it embedded in the door. She clambered off the beanbag and started for the power cord. "I'm not ignoring you Histy, it's just I was out last week doing Goddessy type stuff, ya know, working my butt off isn't good for my complexion."

"THAT WAS LAST YEAR!" Histoire raged.

"Oh, has it been that long?" Neptune asked, pausing in her stride, "Sorry, I completely lost track of time," she apologized as she knuckled her forehead.

A paper was suddenly thrust in front of Neptune's face.

"Our shares have been steadily declining. The people are losing faith in you," Histoire said as she slapped the paper with a small pointer, "Our shares are down fifteen percent from last year. We're barely above ten percent!"

"Ah that's plenty!" Neptune said cheerfully.

"No it's not!" Histoire cried out, "We used to have over thirty percent of the shares a few years ago! If you don't start taking your duties seriously we'll reach a point where we'll never recover and then we'll…" the small fairy swallowed hard, "bankrupt."

"Oh you worry too much, Histy," Neptune said as she waved away her Oracle's concerns.

"That means no more custard puddings," Histoire said as she fired off her secret weapon.

"WHAT!? No! Come on Histy we gotta hit the turbo and get a move on!" Neptune said in a panic as she grabbed her small fairy friend and shot off through the door.

"Wait Neptuneeeeee…." Histoire cried out as she was dragged along behind her charge at breakneck speeds out of the Basilicom.

The Basilicom was the center of each nation, Neptune called her Basilicom 'Nep Tower.' It was made up of two sections, The Parliament and the Sanctuary. The Parliament was where all the real work got done and was usually headed by the Oracle of each nation. The Oracle had a number of underlings to take care of the basic day to day workings while they oversaw everything on behalf of the Goddess. As a result the Goddess was the ultimate authority in the nation as the Oracle would dictate orders to their staff based on the Goddess' desires.

Of course there were exceptions, such as one particular purple-haired lazy Goddess that felt it was more important to play games all day rather than be useful.

The second part of the Basilicom, the Sanctuary, was where the Goddess usually resided. Most assumed it was a great holy place where the Goddesses were busy being a Goddess, few suspected the truth, and only the Oracle and the Goddesses' closest friends knew for certain.

The 'Sanctuaries' where little more than oversized bedrooms specifically designed to indulge the Goddess' petty whims.

Neptune stopped as she ran out the main entrance of the Basilicom and took a long look around her.

The city was bathed in a soft blue glow that seemed to illuminate its surroundings. Only Basilicom was different, being bathed in a purple glow that mimicked the favorite color of their Goddess.

The city was vast and seemed to stretch endlessly in all directions. The city looked as if it was pulled straight from the future. Sleek, elegant curves and gentle edges was the common theme among the buildings, many of them towering hundreds of feet into the night sky. The tallest building of them all was the Basilicom, located in the very heart of the city and surrounded by a beautiful and perfectly manicured park. The Basilicom stretched nearly a mile into the sky with a majesty that words couldn't describe.

It was a breathtaking sight, one that even Neptune, who had lived here her entire life, couldn't help but pause to admire.

"Why's it so dark outside?" Neptune asked curiously.

"Because it's nighttime!" Histoire snapped as she floated around dizzily.

"What?! Why didn't you say anything?" Neptune asked as she whirled around to face her Oracle.

"Because you ran out before I could finish!"

"I missed my afternoon snack," Neptune said in a downcast voice, looking for all the world like someone had just kicked her puppy.

What little was left of Histoire's patience shattered like glass, "Inside! NOW!" Histoire snapped at Neptune as a large angry vein pulsated furiously on her forehead. She pointed towards the doors of the Basilicom imperiously, "Move!"

"WHOA! Histy just went all Pisty!" Neptune shouted in surprise, taking an involuntary step back.

"Don't 'whoa' me missy!" Histoire snapped as she got in Neptune's face. "You're going to march yourself back into the Basilicom where you're then going to wash your face, take a bath, go to sleep, and then get up BRIGHT and EARLY tomorrow morning…"

With each word Histoire bit out, Neptune was forced back another step. There was a harried and panicked look on Neptune's face as Histoire forced her backwards into the Basilicom and into her room. Before she even realized what she was doing she was stripped naked and in the bath, hastily rubbing soap all over her body.

Histoire kept her lecture up the entire time, not letting her charge get a single word of protest in.

… and finally, I'll have IF come over to make sure you do your job properly, I'm empowering her with the authority to punish you if you slack off tomorrow!" Histoire said as finished her tirade.

By this time Neptune was in her bed, dressed in her pajamas, with the covers pulled up over her head as if to place a barrier between her and the tiny woman floating above her like a vengeful Goddess.

"Am I perfectly clear Neptune?"

"Yes Histy!" Neptune quickly replied in a small voice.

"Good," Histoire said in satisfaction as she turned and left the room.

**x~X~x**

"Do you have everything Neptune?" Histoire asked as she floated around the purple-haired CPU, inspecting her.

"I sure do!" Neptune replied cheerfully as she pumped her fist into the air. "I have my socks, and clean underwear, and my pudding!"

"What about your weapon?"

"It's right here!" Neptune held her hands out in front of her and summoned a blade into her hands. She started in surprise when a simple bamboo practice sword materialized in her hands. "What? Where is my special sword?"

"It's worse than I feared," a new voice spoke up from across the room. "You're too low a level to wield it, Neptune, you're level 1."

The two of turned to the newcomer.

The woman standing just inside the front entrance of the Sanctuary was none other than IF, a fair skinned girl with very long, waist length brunette hair, part of which was pulled to the side in a ponytail held with a fashionable green leaf-like ribbon of unknown material.

She wore a very large blue jacket several sizes too big with black and silver lining, adorned with silver buttons. The lower end of the jacket dipped down past her knees and consisted of brown fur lining. The sleeves had black bands with white lining wrapped around the ends and reached out far past the ends of her hands, concealing them from view. The coat was undone, as IF rarely buttoned up even in frigid weather, to show a revealing black and silver tank top and a pair of shorts with a large belt. On the left side of her over-sized coat was a holster that contained nine different cellphones of varying colors from pink to blue to orange and more. On her feet was a pair of blue boots to match her jacket and a pair of medium length black socks.

She was one of Neptune's closest friends and one of the few sources of sanity Histoire could rely upon. While IF had the tendency to be a bit sarcastic she had a solid head on her shoulders, was logical, and very serious when it came to doing jobs. She was also one of the few that could rein Neptune in when she was outside of her HDD transformation.

A relief filled expression crossed Histoire's face when they saw IF but Neptune was anything but happy.

"WHAT?! Level 1? But why? I've been leveling like crazy in my games."

"Games don't translate into real life, Nep," IF said as she walked across the room towards her friend, there was a grace in her movement that bespoke of years of training and experience. "You've been sitting on your ass for over a year, it makes sense that your skills have dissolved into nothing."

"But you're not level 1!" Neptune protested, pointing at IF's fancy level 51 hovering just to the side.

"And why would I be? I've been doing quests all this time," IF said as she stopped a few feet away from Neptune.

"This is so totally not cool, I say we hunt down the bastard that hacked my character and took away all my levels!" Neptune shouted as she pumped the air with her fist.

"I think we'd be better off figuring out who hacked your brain and downloaded stupid into it," IF retorted dryly with a deadpanned expression on her face.

"You're going to go out and do quests to raise the shares of Planeptune!" Histoire shouted down at her charge. She turned to IF and gave her another smile, "It is good of you to come," she said as she floated over to IF, "Neptune has been lazing about all day."

"It's not a problem Histoire."

"Hey, hey, Iffy! What are we doing today, are we going to go out and slay Ancient Dragons?" Neptune asked excitedly. "I can get my levels back really quick if we grind those all day long."

"Not with you dragging me down like dead weight," IF said bluntly as she glanced down at the bamboo practice sword in Neptune's hand.

"Ouch! That hurts Iffy!" Neptune said pitifully as she held a hand to her heart.

"You're only level one now," IF stated flatly as she poked Neptune's forehead and activated her status sheet. IF jerked her thumb at Neptune's HP bar and stats, "you only have a thousand HP and five hundred defense, there's no way you're fighting Ancient Dragons like that, it'd chew you up and spit you out in a second. You've spent too much time sitting on your ass."

"Awww…" Neptune pouted.

"I trust you will handle things from here?" Histoire asked IF.

"Yes," IF said as she gave Histoire an understanding look. Neptune was a handful to deal with on the best of days. IF glanced over at Neptune and nodded her head towards the door, "come on, let's head to the Guild, they'll have some quests for someone as low level as you."

"Maybe we can fight some low level Ancient Dragons," Neptune said excitedly as she rushed for the door, suddenly much more energized about going out.

"Ancient dragons don't come any lower than level 50," IF said, there was another deadpanned look on her face as she walked after her friend.

Neptune turned around and waved at Histoire when she reached the door. "Can you have some tastetacular snacks ready for us when we get home Histy?"

"I'm not your maid!" Histoire shouted at Neptune.

"Oh don't be such a downer, I can't wait for tonight, I want some of your special pudding!" Neptune said as she excitedly left the Basilicom. IF gave Histoire a sympathetic look and followed after.

Histoire let out a sigh of relief as the door closed behind IF and subconsciously headed for the kitchen. With Neptune out of her hair for a while she could actually get some work done. Although she wouldn't trade Neptune for anyone else, the purple-haired girl certainly tried her patience at times.

And perhaps Neptune could even regain some of the shares she had let slip through her fingers, miracles did happen from time to time.

But she was most certainly NOT going to have some snacks ready for Neptune when she returned. She kept that thought firmly in her mind as she looked around the kitchen for the sugar.

**x~X~x**

Planeptune looked much different during the day than at night. While at night the city was bathed in a soft blue look that made it look very futuristic, during the day the green came out. The city was covered with parks, trees, plants and other greenery. There was little in the way of 'personal' homes in Planeptune, all the dwellings were in large buildings that offered anything from a small bachelor pad to spacious multi-level condominiums. This, combined with the spacious design of the city, allowed for wide swaths of parkland to be laid down between the various sections of the city.

There were no roads in Planeptune, at least none for personal travel. All the 'roads' in Planeptune were given over to mass transit or path walks for pedestrian to stroll through the various parks and city blocks. There were also plenty of large maglev railways for transporting goods from location to location. To get from place to place without mass transit one used their own two legs, although this was aided through the use of skyways.

Skyways were invisible elevated walkways. They used precision scanners to pinpoint your exact location and created a small platform under your feet to stand on. This platform was then pushed through the skyways at a rapid pace, usually rivaling the speed of most vehicles. So long as you remained in the skyway you could walk or move however you liked. The system would simply recalculate your position and create a new platform as you stepped off the current. To go from one location to another, you literally walked and the skyway aided your travel by speeding it up.

It didn't take very long for the two of them, Neptune and IF, to travel from the Basilicom to the Guild. The guild was one of the central points of each of the major cities, some argued it was almost as important as the Basilicom in its own way. As a result they were usually located fairly close to the Basilicom itself.

"Where is Compa?" Neptune asked as the two stepped off the skyway and onto solid ground.

That caused a twinge in IF's heart. Managing Neptune would be far easier, and much more tolerable, if Compa was here at her side. Unfortunately Compa was busy for the entire week. "She's studying for her medical exam, her exam is this Saturday," IF said as she started for the front entrance to the Guild, a long set of sliding glass doors.

"That's like a total bummer, she's usually glued to your side like a pair of wet panties."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Well her panties have been wet lately, and she's always at your side so…"

"WHAT WERE YOU DOING WITH HER PANTIES?"

The air went silent as everyone on that platform stopped to stare at IF. IF blushed a bright crimson at her outburst and moderated her tone. "Stop going through other people's stuff!" she hissed at Neptune in a whisper.

"Oh! I get it now, she's gotten herself a boyfriend!" Neptune said, her eyes brightening as realization dawned on her.

"She's does NOT have a boyfriend!" IF refused to believe that Compa had a boyfriend, that was impossible, no way. IF would kill any man that dared lay a hand on her Compa. Besides… "I already told you she's studying for her exam!"

"Well of –course- she's studying for her medical exam, she wants to play 'doctor,'" Neptune said, crossing her arms across her chest and nodding sagely.

IF twitched violently. She had a sudden urge to reach out and strangle Neptune a little. It took an incredible amount of impressive self-control not to. Fearing where the direction the discussion was headed, IF ceased any further conversation on that particular topic. Neptune was impossible to deal with when she became like this. It was best just to ignore her and move on, she'd drop the topic soon enough. She was the poster child for Hyper ADD.

IF tuned Neptune out the rest of the way to the entrance of the Guild. The Guild, while not nearly as impressive as the Basilicom, was still one of the largest structures in Planeptune with a wide, spacious platform that encircled the building. The main entrance was actually several hundred feet above the ground. The ground level and near ground level entrances were reserved for employees or transport vehicles carrying supplies.

As they entered the Guild IF's eyes lit up as she saw some friends heading towards them, "Otome, Mate, Neverlan, you three on an assignment?" IF asked as the three girls.

"Y-Yes," Otome stuttered as she looked shyly at IF, her cheeks tinted with a hint of pink.

"There are rumors of something pretty nasty brewing on an island off the west coast," Neverlan said as she walked up to IF and placed a hand on her shoulder, "the invitation is still there, we could use your ability to find hidden traps and secret doors."

"I'd love to, but I have some babysitting to do today," IF said with a shake of her head.

"Babysitting? Really who?" Neptune asked eagerly.

A sweat drop rolled down the side of IF's head. She refused to answer that question with the other three here. No need to make the shares of Planeptune drop even more due to her snarky remarks.

"Well, if you finish early you can come catch up," Neverlan said with a smile, "whatever it is out west it has the Guild nervous."

IF frowned, she didn't like the sound of that, "is it really that bad?"

Neverlan laughed and shrugged her shoulders, "Who knows, all the people that have gone out there recently simply disappeared. They were all weak newbie adventurers, few were over level fifteen. The monsters there are easily twice that level so they were probably all just beaten by monsters." Neverlan wasn't too overly worried, Otome was level forty-six, Mate was forty-eight and she was almost fifty. More than enough to handle anything the indigenous monsters island could throw at them, even without IF's help. "People rarely go out there anyways, not much point, there's nothing there worth risking your life over. That and the monsters have always been abnormally strong out there, it's essentially a lawless zone since none of the Goddess' seem to want to claim it."

"Be careful," IF said seriously, she didn't like what she was hearing. Sure young weak adventurers were constantly being caught off guard out there, the islands out there were just off the coast of low level zones, but usually they were able to flee fast enough to get out with only a few scars and some stories to tell. From time to time reports of deaths did come in, but they were rather infrequent.

The fact that the adventurers simply disappeared hinted at something much different than getting beaten by monsters. If someone died it would be immediately recorded by the system, if their deaths aren't recorded it means they were alive somewhere.

"Don't worry, we're just going to head out, do a quick survey of the area, and be back, what could go wrong?" Neverlan asked with a laugh as she turned to her two friends, "come on, let's go! The boat won't wait for us forever."

"A-Actually, i-it will," Otome said as she quickly fell in step beside Neverlan. The ships in Gamindustri always waited for major characters to arrive. It was the NPCs without proper descriptions that were forced to wait for the ship to come.

Otome turned on her heel and gave IF a quick bow before she whirled back around and hurried after her party leader.

Mate simply gave IF a nod as she hurried after the other two, she never spoke unless it was really important.

"Wow, she said the most taboo words you could possibly say before going out," Neptune marveled as the party left the building.

IF sighed in exasperation, "I know, that's Neverlan for you, whenever she utters 'what could go wrong?' everything goes wrong," the brunette said as she trudged towards the front desk where the quests were assigned, "I still remember the first time she said that when we were just starting out. It was supposed to be a simple 'kill X number of dogoo's' mission."

"What happened? Did you get thrown into incredibly embarrassing and perverted situations?" Neptune asked curiously. She'd never heard about this story.

"It took me three days to get all that slime off me," IF said as her eyebrow twitched violently. It had taken another two months for the smell to go away, "I had slime in places slime really doesn't belong." Up to that point she had never before felt so violated in her life, although it did pale in comparison to some of the other problems Neverlan's overly optimistic attitude ended up dropping their group into later.

She couldn't look at squid anymore after one particular mission, she used to enjoy eating the stuff too.

The worst part about it was that Neverlan always seemed to come out unscathed, it was always IF and Otome that ended up suffering the most. The two had developed a close bond as a result, companions in misery.

"There sure are a lot of quests here," Neptune said as her eyes roamed up and down the list of quests. The list was a holographic display that expanded and showed the details of a particular quest if you hovered your hand in front of one.

"Those are for A-Rank missions, the E-Rank ones are over here," IF said as she pulled Neptune along behind her as she headed down the counter.

"But there was a quest to slay an Ancient Dragon there!"

"We're not hunting Ancient Dragons!" IF snapped back, she wouldn't have any qualms about fighting one with Neverlan and the others, they had killed several already, but she wasn't going to try and solo one herself, Neptune being as weak as she was would just be dead weight in that sort of battle.

She plopped Neptune down in front of the E-Rank mission lists. "These are the quests we'll be doing." E-Rank was the only one that had multiple holographic protections. There was an endless supply of low level, newbie quests for beginners to start on.

"Aww," Neptune pouted as her eyes scanned the lists, "alright, let's do this one!" she said as she poked one of the quests.

"Kill ten dogoos in Virtua Forest," IF said aloud as she read the name of the quest. The quest expanded and displayed more information including recommended strategies and information about the client. IF ignored that stuff, it rarely mattered outside of courier missions, and scrolled down to the information until she reached the pertinent stuff, "Recommended Levels, one to five, reward: one thousand credits and two percent increase in Planeptune shares. This'll do."

"Think we'll fight any Ancient Dragons?" Neptune asked curiously.

A vein popped on IF's forehead, "no, there aren't any Ancient Dragons in Virtua Forest and we wouldn't fight them even if there were." It would be a nightmare if there were, the forest was a well-known lowbie grinding spot. There would be lots of deaths and incidents if one did appear. It would also have been big news and taken down quite quickly by higher level adventurers.

That was why IF was certain they wouldn't face one. She'd have heard of it by now and it would already be defeated before they even got to the forest.

There were big rewards for taking out dangerous monsters in low level areas.

IF accepted the quest and quickly choose a few other gathering quests to go with it. Between the gathering nodes and monster drops they would be able to easily complete those quests while hunting for ten dogoos. Their rewards were less than the hunting one but in all told they'd bring in twenty-five hundred credits some healing items and a five percent increase in Planeptune shares.

"Alright! Let's get going! I want my levels back ASAP!" Neptune

**x~X~x**

The World of Gamindustri was essentially one giant continent in the shape of an upside down crescent. There were many islands surrounding the main landmass, including a large island that was almost one third the size of the main continent nestled inside the arch of the main land. Across these landmasses it was split into five zones. The first zone was comprised of the western and southwestern parts of the main continent and was ruled by Neptune from Planeptune. The second zone was made up of eastern and southeastern parts of the main continent and was ruled by a different Goddess from the capital of Lastation. The northern part of the continent was ruled by yet a third Goddess from its capital of Lowee.

There was a fourth Goddess and she ruled the large island nestled in the crook of the main continent from her lofty perch in Leanbox.

Each zone was named after the capital city from which they were ruled from.

The fifth, and last zone, wasn't ruled by anyone. It belonged to those that didn't want anything to do with the Goddess, or whom the Goddess didn't want anything to do with. This included the majority of the islands that surrounded the main continent.

Virtua Forest resided in Planeptune, just on the outskirts of the city itself, was one of several different low level areas that surrounded the city. It was a beautiful place, the grass was always green, the flowers and trees were always in full bloom. Gentle rolling hills went on for as far as the eye could see.

While this particular location was considered part of Virtua Forest, it looked more like open grasslands with a few trees to break the monotony. The forest got thicker the further one went in, but the monsters got more dangerous and the level requirements went up as well. The dogoos they were tasked with clearing out however liked the sunlight and open fields, they wouldn't find them in the depths.

Or at least this was where one would normally find the dogoos.

IF frowned in worry as she danced around the Radisher, her katars igniting as they flashed through the air, "Demon Comet Slash!" The Radisher exploded into a cloud of pixels as IF obliterated the enemy with a single move consisting of a dozen lightning quick cuts.

"These guys are nothing!" Neptune said as she smacked the last Radisher in the back, sending it back to the compiler in pieces.

"They're all low level monsters," IF said as she glanced around the field, one hand on her hip and another shielding her eyes as she scanned the horizon.

"I've gained four levels since coming here," Neptune said cheerfully, "I'll be back in tip-top shape in no time."

"Congrats, you're level 5, but we have a problem."

"What's the problem! I'll solve it lickity split."

"There's no dogoos."

Neptune's exuberance was instantly cooled. She glanced around like IF and noticed that there weren't any dogoos anywhere. There had been plenty when they had first arrived, they had killed their first six rather easily, and quickly, the next three had been rather difficult to find, they'd all been hiding in bushes.

They had still yet to find the tenth, and last, one they needed.

But now that Neptune thought about it, it had been almost three hours since the last time they fought a dogoo. All they've been fighting are Tulip's and Radishers with the odd Horsebird mixed in.

And even the Horsebirds seem to have disappeared.

Neptune shrugged and a huge smile crossed her face again, "Ah, who cares about the small stuff!"

"We need one more dogoo to complete the quest…"

"But we finished the other ones right?"

"Well, ya…"

"Then let's just grind until the dogoos come back!" Neptune shouted as she charged towards another pile of Radishers and Tulips. "I want my weapon back!"

"You're level five, you should be able to upgrade your weapon," IF shouted back as she chased after her friend.

"Oh!" Neptune said in surprise and stopped. She threw her bamboo training sword away and stuck her hands out before her, "come to me oh mighty Laevateinn!"

A tachi appeared in her hands.

"Whaaaat?" Neptune cried out as she stared at the simple metal blade, "Where's my legendary Laevateinn?"

"That's a level forty-five weapon, you're not going to be able to wield it any time soon," IF said as she came up beside the flighty Goddess.

"That's not fair! Why do you get to wield those fancy things but I can't!" Neptune complained as she pointed at IF's weapons, a pair of brilliant katars that glowed with an unearthly light.

True Freak Diamonds. They were a pair of the strongest katars in Gamindustri. There were only three sets of claws and katars stronger than them. Two of them were in a Post-Game dungeon that she, Neverlan and the others were planning on tackling soon.

She had the third pair, King's Claws, as backup. She disliked claws, preferring Katars over them. Since she could basically one-hit-kill anything in Virtua Forest, even without any weapons, she had opted to use the more elegant of her two weapons.

"Because I didn't slack off for over a year playing games and let my skills dull into nothing," IF shot back.

"Ouch, Iffy, stop saying logical things! It hurts!" Neptune said as she held her chest in pain.

"Get ready Neptune, we've aggro'd the enemies," IF said as she readied herself to attack the weak enemies.

"Whoa! You're so totally right, looks like we bagged us a boss monster!" Neptune said as she stared at something behind IF.

"I know you're stupid Nep, but even you can't honestly consider these…" she waved her katar at a bunch of Radishers and Tulips that were quaking in terror, "as 'boss' monsters."

"Of course not silly, I'm talking about the Ancient Dragon," Neptune said lightly, "you know, the one that's sort of drooling on us like he just laid eyes on a nice juicy steak."

IF looked at Neptune and sighed in exasperation. Sometimes she couldn't keep up with Neptune and her fantasies. "How many times do I have to say it? There are no Ancient Dragon's…" a large shadow fell over her. She slowly turned, "in…" her eyes started to trail up the enormous creature that had come up behind them, "… Virtua…" red eyes glowered down at the two of them malevolently. "Forest…"

There was an Ancient Dragon in Virtua Forest…

"Neptune… back up, real slow like," IF said quietly as she took her own advice and took one small step back. If they played their cards right they would be able to flee before the creature was able to act.

"Hiyah!" Neptune shouted as she smacked the ankle of the powerful creature.

The blade of the tachi snapped off the thick hide, doing no damage.

IF blinked.

Neptune blinked.

The Ancient Dragon yawned.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" IF screamed at Neptune hysterically.

"That didn't work too well," Neptune said as she eyed her broken tachi. "Do you think it's like using a God Mode cheat or something?"

The dragon let out an enormous roar, shaking leaves off the trees and scattering the wild life in all directions.

"WHOA!" Neptune cried out as she felt a hand grab her hood and yank her off her feet. She suddenly found herself airborne as she trailed behind an IF who was beating a hasty retreat.

The dragon let out a second roar and quickly took up chase.

"DAMN YOU NEVERLAN!" IF cried out angrily as she hoofed it as fast as she could.

"Who knew that phrase was contagious…" Neptune said as she looked at the Ancient Dragon that was rapidly approaching, "you may want to hit the turbo boosters Iffy, the dragon's getting closer."

"You don't need to tell me that!" IF snapped as she grabbed a nearby Radisher and tossed it over her shoulder to Neptune.

"What do you want me to do with this?" Neptune asked as she held the shivering Radisher in her hands.

"THROW IT!"

"Gotcha!" Neptune said as she whipped the Radisher at the charging dragon.

The Radisher screamed.

The Ancient Dragon batted the Radisher away without a second glance. It disappeared into the horizon with a twinkle. It was far more interested in the two delicious pieces of meat running away from it and it was most certainly not a vegan dragon.

The Tulip that followed faired the same fate.

As did the next several poor creatures IF had Neptune toss in the path of the rampaging dragon.

"Oh a dogoo!" Neptune said happily as IF tossed the slime over her shoulder. "Take this dragon!" the small goddess shouted as she threw it at dragon.

"NO!" IF cried out, too late to stop Neptune, "That was for the quest!"

"Oh whoops, sorry!" Neptune said apologetically. "I got so into throwing helpless little critters at the evil rampaging dragon that I like totally forgot."

"ARGH!" IF shouted as she threw Neptune ahead of her. There was a slightly crazed and insane look on IF's face as she jumped and spun in mid-air, "DEMONIC INFERNO!" she shouted as she hurled a series of fireballs behind her.

The dogoo squirmed painfully for a moment before the balls of fire reduced it to pixels. The resulting explosion damaged the Ancient Dragon as well, but only marginally.

The words QUEST COMPLETED flashed across IF's eyes, bringing a hint of sanity and relief back to the stressed out woman.

As IF finished her spin and landed on her feet she held a hand out and snagged a falling Neptune from the air and bolted down the path back to Planeptune even faster than before.

The Ancient Dragon continued after them with renewed vigor. Before, it had simply chased them to eat the two, now it wanted to get revenge for the pain they had caused him.

The dragon opened its jaws and brilliant blue light began to appear from deep within his throat.

"HOLY CRAP!" IF shouted and dove to the side. A massive beam of energy shot past her, digging a deep trench into the ground.

"These are pretty good," Neptune said as she munched on some hotdogs.

"What the hell Neptune?!" IF cried out as she glanced behind her and saw her charge happily munching away.

"I saw him charging the hyper beam so I brought out some hotdogs and cooked them," Neptune said cheerfully. She was still airborne, her legs stretched out horizontally behind her as IF dragged her along by her hood. "Want one?" Neptune asked as she offered IF a grilled hotdog.

"NO I DON'T WANT A HOTDOG!" A panicking IF said. "AND WHERE THE HELL IS THAT CONVINENT PLOT DEVICE WHEN YOU NEED IT?!" The stressed out brunette was more than fed up with the current plot course.

"Oh! I think I see it! We have incoming!" Neptune said as she waved up at something, "Hiyo!"

"What? Incoming?" IF asked in confusion. Was the plot device finally here? Was it a high level group of adventurers that just happened to be passing through here? She sure hoped so as the average level of most parties that came through here was under ten. They'd be too low level to help with the Ancient Dragon.

"Yup! Pirates!"

"Pirates?" Now IF was utterly confused, they were in the middle of a forest, they were miles away from any significant body of water.

"Yup! Right there!" Neptune said as she pointed up into the sky.

IF glanced behind her.

A large sweat drop rolled down the back of her head and a deadpanned expression crossed her face. Well… she knew where that convenient plot device was.

**BOOM!**

A large galleon slammed into the Ancient Dragon. The dragon let out an indignant squawk as it was buried into the ground. The ship exploded into a million pieces from the force of the impact. There was the sound of breaking glass as the Ancient Dragon disappeared into pixels, getting 1-hit-ko'd by the flying galleon.

IF and Neptune were picked off their feet and hurled through the air.

Or rather, IF was picked off her feet and hurled, Neptune was already airborne.

The two of them landed together in a tangle of limbs some ways away from the impact zone.

"Ow," Neptune grumbled as she untangled herself from her friend and picked herself up off the ground. "You don't think there was anyone on that do you?" she asked in concern as she stared at the wreckage.

"If there was they aren't anymore," IF said as she slowly stood, brushing the dirt and grass off her clothes, "not many could survive that level of crash."

"Why was there a ship flying through the air?" Neptune asked IF as she slowly made her way towards the ruined ship.

"I don't know, but for some reason I'm not as surprised as I should be," IF said as she trudged along behind her friend.

Something like this wasn't an everyday occurrence. In fact this was the first time IF had ever been saved from an Ancient Dragon by a flying ship. However expecting the crazy was just something you learned to accept and deal with when hanging around Neptune. For some reason nothing was able to stay 'normal' around her friend for very long.

She was almost as bad as Neverlan in that regard.

Almost.

"FUYAH!" a voice from within the wreckage shouted.

There was an explosion of wood fragments as someone burst out from within the ruined ship.

Neptune and IF stopped and stared at the individual. She was a fair skinned woman with short red hair, which was held up by a metal band, and brown eyes. She wore a very short white tank top, that barely covered more than her breasts, under a small blue and white jacket with gold accents. Her skirt was white with thick strips of blue in the center and was worn with a brown belt with gold details. Clipped on to the belt was a small orange and black pouch. On her legs were a pair of blue boots with white and gold accents over thigh high stockings. On her hands were a pair of fingerless black gloves.

There was a small instrument case lying at her feet.

"Whew, I thought I was done for," the red head said as she bent down and picked up her case and slung it over her shoulder.

"Falcom?" IF gaped at the woman.

"IF!" Falcom said in surprise as she saw the two people standing near her for the first time, "what are you doing in such a low level area?"

"You know her Iffy?" Neptune asked curiously.

"Well ya, we've worked together on occasion."

"Oops, manners, sorry," Falcom apologized to Neptune and stuck her hand out to her, "I'm Falcom. As you can tell from my garb, I'm just a stock adventuress, and who might you be?"

"I'm Neptune!" The purple-haired Goddess said as she shook Falcom's hand.

"Neptune… Neptune… where have I heard that name before?" Falcom said as her head tilted thoughtfully.

"This is your illustrious Goddess," IF said with a sigh. Despite being a roaming adventurer that accepted quests from every nation, she was ultimately someone from Planeptune and as a result looked up to the CPU of Planeptune, Neptune.

"Oh! That's right! But aren't you supposed to be, I dunno, taller? With larger breasts and a curvy figure that most women would kill to have?" Falcom asked as she eyed Neptune up and down critically.

"That's her HDD form," IF explained.

"I see, are we still on for next week?" Falcom asked IF.

"It may be delayed a bit, Neverlan, Otome and Mate went out west on a guild quest," IF explained. The five of them were going to explore a new Post-Game dungeon that had just recently appeared. Five was the largest party size one could have in Gamindustri. Any more than that and people had to either be left behind or be used as support.

"Woohoo! I'm level thirty-five now!" Neptune said happily as she checked her statistics, there were a series of menus opened up before her. The stats listed there were magnitudes higher than they had been at the start.

"How? That shouldn't be…" IF trailed off and her eyes widened in realization. The ancient dragon was worth half a million experience points. And with all the rested experience Neptune had built up over the last year, that was easily boosted to at least a full million.

Couple that with how low level she was, the fact that experience gain didn't really slow until level forty, and that they had 'technically' been in combat with the dragon when the galleon had crashed into it, it all made sense.

"I can't believe it… you have the dumbest luck I have ever seen, Neptune," IF groaned and held her head in her hands.

She glanced at her own stats and confirmed her suspicions. She herself had gone up a level, she was now fifty-two. The two of them had gotten credit for the kill.

Speaking of credits, they had both received a rather sizeable increase to their bank accounts.

"I'm awesome," Neptune said as she held out her hands and summoned a new weapon. This time the katana Demon Blade: Curse, appeared in her hands. "This is more like it!" the purpled-haired goddess said as she swung her demonic looking katana around.

"We're heading home Neptune," IF said, her eyes still covered by her hands. She couldn't believe the dumb crap that had happened to her today. Thankfully their quests were done and they could go home. She didn't want to deal with anything else today.

"I think I'll tag along as well," Falcom said as she walked up beside IF.

"Thank you, you have no idea how nice it is to have someone that isn't insane to talk to," IF said as she started to trudge back to town.

"Neptune can't be that bad," Falcom said as she fell into step beside IF.

IF gave her a sidelong glance, "You have no idea, but you will, by the time we make it back to town, you will."

"Hey! Wait up Iffy, Commy!" Neptune cried out as she hurried to catch up to IF.

"Commy?" Falcom asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Neptune gives everyone nicknames…"

"How did you get the ship to fly?" Neptune asked curiously as she joined the two of them.

IF perked up at that. Neptune actually had a point there, "Ya, how did you get here? That type of ship can't fly."

"I was sailing back to Planeptune from Leanbox when the ship was attacked," Falcom said, tilting her head and placing a finger on her cheek as she thought back to earlier in the day. "I tried to fight it off, with help from the other sailors, but it was to no avail. An octopus monster pulled all the sailors into the depths."

"I hate tentacles!" IF said as she shuddered violently

Falcom nodded in understanding, she had been there when that traumatic incident had happened to IF, it was completely understandable to hate tentacles after that. IF had only barely managed to preserve Otome's, and her own, purity at the last second due to some quick thinking.

The tentacles had mercilessly assaulted the rest of their bodies but she had managed to keep the most sacred of places safe long enough for Mate and Falcom to cut them free.

Now that Falcom thought about it, it was around that time that Otome started to get really shy around IF.

"Well the octopus tried to take me too but I was too quick for it. Eventually it got fed up and threw the ship and that's how I ended up here," Falcom said as she wrapped up her story.

"I don't know whether or not to consider that lucky or unlucky."

On one hand her timely arrival had saved the both of them, but on the other hand her ship had been attacked yet again.

"At least it wasn't sunk this time," Falcom said with a laugh, "I'm getting tired of having to swim ashore every time. It's a pain to dry out these clothes, and everyone just stares at me when I do."

"Perhaps they'd stop staring if you didn't walk around naked," IF pointed out. Falcom was one of her more normal friends, but considering who she normally dealt with it wasn't very hard to fit into that category. Aside from her habit of walked around in the nude whenever she needed to dry her clothing, she was pretty normal.

IF could easily accept that much if that was Falcom's only eccentricity, at least it didn't land HER into trouble. Neptune and Neverlan managed that well enough as it was.

"I can't very well dry my clothes off by wearing them," Falcom replied.

"That's what spare clothes are for."

"I tried bringing spares, but they always got wet as well," Falcom said with a shrug. "Besides it's much easier to swim to shore when you're not dragging an extra set of wet clothing behind you."

IF sighed and gave up, considering how frequently Falcom found herself ship wrecked, that actually made sense to her. Just about every second ship Falcom took ended up sinking forcing the woman to swim ashore, which translated into about every other week. You didn't want to carry a lot of extra baggage when that happened on a frequent basis.

It happened so often IF had taken to carrying a swim suit with her whenever she took a ship with Falcom, just so she had something to change into when she inevitably had to swim ashore.

"Wow, things went from a hectic life threatening situation to X-Rated in a jiffy," Neptune said cheerfully as she eyed Falcom's chest, "you don't seem all that put out by giving everyone a show."

"Oh it's not all that bad, at least not anymore," Falcom said as she stopped and set her music case down, "check this out!"

Falcom ripped her clothes from her body.

"Oooaahhh!" Neptune gasped and pointed at Falcom's chest, "those are the special censorship lights that games and movies always use to hide the naughty bits!"

"Yup!" Falcom said as she thrust her chest out proudly, despite that you couldn't see much as it was completely obscured by a rather annoying ray of light, "a couple attached themselves to me when I got ship wrecked off the shore of R-18 Island. I took them along with me when I swam back to the mainland afterwards."

"I'm so going to go there and get me some of that!" Neptune cried out as she whirled towards her friend, her eyes sparkling with excitement.

"NO!" IF shot her down. Neptune going to a nude beach had bad news spelled all over it.

"Don't worry, I'll bring spares back for you as well," Neptune tried to comfort IF.

"They'd throw you out pretty quickly," Falcom said as she eyed Neptune up and down, "you have some… growing to do, in more than one place."

"Oh don't worry about that!" Neptune said happily, "I'll just transform and they'll let me in easy peasy."

"You have more important things to do than abusing your powers to sneak into a nudist colony," IF retorted, her eyebrow twitching in annoyance.

"But just think about all the perverted readers we could win over to our side if we went there!" Neptune protested. "I just know they're dying to read about my sexy body laid out on a beach covered by nothing more than beams of light!" Neptune's hands traced curvy outlines in the air to accentuate her point.

IF grimaced, there was only one way to deal with Neptune in this situation, "alright, you win, but only if you manage to bring Planeptune's shares back up to full strength," IF relented. With Neptune's short attention span, by the time they managed to bring Neptune's shares back to full she would probably have forgotten about the island entirely. She'd have to make sure Falcom didn't mention the censorship beams again.

"I'll have Planeptune's shares up in no time! Just you wait and see!" Neptune said enthusiastically and pumped her fist into the air, "Come on slow pokes let's get back to town quick!" Neptune took off racing.

"You're really good at handling her," Falcom commented.

"Neptune can be a handful, that's for sure, but she's the predictable kind of chaos, that makes it easy to steer her," IF agreed as she looked over at her companion. She waved in the direction Neptune had gone, "Anyways we need to hurry after Neptune, she's bound to get into trouble before we get back to—"

"WHOA! Uh oh…" Neptune's voiced cried out from in the distance.

"See?"


	2. Shopping

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hyperdimension Neptunia. All characters, thoughts and ideas that exist in this story that were taken from the original works belong to their creators, Compile Heart and Idea Factory. Only original thoughts and or characters created in this story are my own.**

**Chapter 2: Shopping**

"I am impressed," Histoire said as she hovered between IF, Compa and Falcom. Her eyes were closed as she sorted through the various efforts Neptune and the others had done over the past couple weeks. Their shares had actually grown quite a bit in a short amount of time. If Histoire had to be honest with herself, she didn't think Neptune had it in her.

Of course, when Neptune had a goal, she went for it with a drive that was almost frightening. Falcom had unwittingly shown Neptune something she wanted, and IF gave her a goal she need to achieve to obtain that something.

"I can easily handle something like this, getting shares back is no problem for someone like me," Neptune said cheerfully as she sat cross-legged on a cushioned leather arm-chair.

"Ugh…" IF groaned from her spot on a couch nearby. Her head was laid back against the top of the couch, her eyes closed and her arms sprawled out to either side. She was exhausted from dealing with Neptune for the past couple weeks, if Falcom hadn't been there she probably would have snapped.

"There, there, IF," Falcom said comfortingly as she gently patted the burnt out woman on the shoulder. She wanted to say it wasn't that bad and that it would be alright, but it really had been that bad, and she really didn't know if everything was going to turn out alright. Now she understood completely what IF had meant earlier.

There had been that one situation with the Dogoo King in Virtua Forest Depths where IF had saved Neptune from getting swallowed hole, and ended up stuck inside it instead. By the time Falcom and Neptune had managed to defeat the thing it had dissolved all of IF's clothes. IF had been forced to borrow Falcom's censorship beams as they trudged their way back to Planeptune.

Then there had been MK-241-13, a vicious machine boss prowling inside Darkness 60. Normally it would have been easy enough to defeat but things had gone downhill fast when Neptune had transformed to deal the killing blow.

Apparently it had an emergency function to enter Hyper-Mode upon detection of a goddess. It had fully healed and been buffed up to many times its original state. They had managed to come out victorious, but the battle had ended up being long and grueling.

And IF had suffered once more due to an errant shock near the end of the battle that had caused her to lose control of her bodily functions for a time, including her bladder.

Neptune, or rather Purple Heart as she went by in her transformed state, had apologized profusely afterwards but it was still another embarrassing mark on IF's illustrious career. Thankfully no one but them had been around to see it.

And that was only the tip of the iceberg.

Falcom had suffered a bit as well but instead of getting all worked up about it she simply went with the flow. The adventuress ultimately found most of it amusing, especially since IF usually ended up with the brunt of the suffering due to Neptune's hijinks.

The three of them were resting within Neptune's private lounge in the Basilicom while Histoire went over all of their efforts. The three of them had been all over Planeptune. With Neptune's lucky increase in levels, and Falcom's added presence, IF had felt confident they could tackle anything within the borders of Planeptune. As a result their quests had taken them to various places such as Haneda City, Virtua Forest Depths, Lan Castle and Darkness 60.

Neptune would need quite a few more levels however before they were ready to tackle the higher level stuff outside the borders. She had only gained two more levels over the course of the past two weeks. That was the issue with gaining so many levels so quickly, she had quickly outstripped many of the areas and as a result didn't get nearly as much experience as she would have in them.

"I am quite pleased to see you taking your job seriously for a change," Histoire said to Neptune with a surprised, yet satisfied look on her face, "our shares have gone up nine percent in the last two weeks, we're now at twenty percent, we're not on par with the other nations yet but we are doing much better."

"What?! All that work and only nine percent?" Neptune cried out, bewildered. She turned to IF, "how much longer until we reach our prior level?"

IF flinched.

"Nine percent is a good number, Neptune, do not be so greedy. Raising one's shares takes time and diligence, it can't be rushed," Histoire said calmly as she tried to ease what she perceived to be Neptune's worries.

"But I want to go to R-18 Island!" Neptune whined.

IF flinched again.

"I see…" Histoire said slowly as she looked back and forth between IF and Neptune, "I'm sure you will honor your agreement with Neptune, IF?"

IF flinched a third time, "Y-ya…"

Histoire really only cared about two things, the health of Planeptune and Neptune herself. If Planeptune flourished, and Neptune was happy and strong, Histoire wasn't particularly concerned what method IF used to convince her to work as hard as she was.

Of course that also bled somewhat over to Neptune's friends since Neptune's emotional well-being was tightly wrapped up with those of her friends. It also helped that Neptune's friends, at least IF anyways, seemed to have a solid head on her shoulder and often came to Histoire's aid in making Neptune get off her lazy butt and do something.

But Histoire had no qualms about throwing IF into an embarrassing situation if it got Neptune to do her job properly.

In fact Histoire was even now coming up with another scheme to put into motion in the future once the inevitable drop in shares happened. After Neptune gathered enough shares and had gone to R-18 Island Histoire had no doubt she'd go back to her lazy ways, and with her shares at a decent level Histoire didn't have the heart to stop her.

"And you will accompany her to make sure nothing goes wrong, correct?"

"Yes… Histoire…"

"Don't be so gloomy IF, I'll come along as well!"

IF would rather she didn't, if Falcom came with them, their ship would sink. Maybe not on the way there, but on the way back for sure. But it would be nice to have someone normal at her side. Hopefully she could convince Neptune to stay in her transformed state while there.

"Are we going on a trip somewhere?" a new voice called out from across the room.

IF perked up immediately a bright smile crossed her face, "Compa!" she said happily as she watched the orange haired woman walk across the room towards them. Compa had her usual cheerful smile on her face.

She could give Neptune a run for her money in the cheerfulness department, but she wasn't nearly as insane as Neptune which made her much better in IF's book. In fact of all the people IF knew, she liked Compa the most.

Compa was dressed in her normal clothing which consisted of a white wool sweater with detached sleeves and matching boots. Black thigh-high stockings with pink frills covered most of her legs. She also wore a super short red-plaid mini-skirt that did very little to hide anything. It was just long enough to cover her butt while standing or walking and she often ended up flashing people whenever she sat down or did anything that caused her to bend her waist more than thirty degrees.

"Yup! We're going to R-18 Island once I whip Planeptune's shares back into shape," Neptune said happily and gave Compa a brilliant smile.

"Oh, you can't go Nep-Nep, you're not old enough!" Compa chided Neptune as she came up beside IF.

"Whaaat?" Neptune cried out in disbelief. She turned to Histoire with a panicked look on her face, "Histoire! Someone stole my age along with my levels!"

"Compa, please don't make Nep stupider than she already is…" IF pleaded with her best friend.

"Sorry Iffy," Compa apologized, "it's just Nep-Nep looks and acts like she's eleven so sometimes I forget, they won't let her in like that…"

Neptune's face lit up as understand flashed across it. She pounded a fist into her palm and gave Compa a large grin. "That's no problemo then, I'll just transform and wow them with my sexy figure!"

"That's alright then," Compa said, accepting that explanation without question. She turned to IF, "we can go swimsuit shopping! I need a new swimsuit."

"I don't need a swimsuit," IF grumbled, she already had one. She had bought it years ago when it became obvious she would need one when partying with Falcom for any length of time. She could still fit in it just fine.

IF looked at Compa's breasts and let out a sigh. Unlike Compa she hadn't grown very much from when she was sixteen.

"Please Iffy, won't you come with me?" Compa pleaded, her eyes began to water as she pulled the puppy-dog eye trick on IF.

"Gah! Stop! You know I can't resist that!" IF cried out as she tried to cover her eyes.

It was too late.

"Damnit, fine, I'll go, just stop," IF acceded with a light blush on her face. Truth be told she didn't mind seeing Compa in a bikini.

"So when are we going?" Compa asked as she turned off the waterworks.

"Once Planeptune reaches thirty percent shares," IF said.

"Twenty-five percent will be sufficient," Histoire corrected IF. "I calculate that the most optimal place to level out at is there since anything more requires us to encroach upon our neighbours shares."

"Only five more percent to go! Woohoo!" Neptune shouted as she jumped out of her chair, "let's get going, we can so have this by the end of the week."

"Please… just… let me rest for a day," IF sobbed.

"Now, now, Iffy, you know how hard it is to get Nep-Nep motivated," Compa said as she gently grabbed IF's hands and pulled her up from the couch.

"Can we at least do normal quests?" IF pleaded.

"Sure!" Neptune said as she jumped at IF and wrapped her arms around her neck,  
I saw this awesome quest the other day…"

IF's eyes began to widen in horror as Neptune started to describe the quest requirements. They needed to get some rope, lubrication, candles, a whip, and a couple gerbils. IF didn't even want to contemplate what the gerbils were for.

And then they had to use them to put on a show for an audience…

"STOP!" IF cried out in a panic, "We're not doing that quest!"

"What? But it looked so interesting," Neptune complained. She was really looking forward to the gerbils too, she had even picked out names for them.

"Nep-Nep, I agree with Iffy, let's do some regular hunt and gather quests."

"Come on, just this once, that quest has been there for years, I want—"

"Am. I. Clear?" Compa's eyes darkened and she seemed to grow ten feet on the spot to tower over them.

"Hunt and gather! Got it!" Neptune said, suddenly a dozen feet away from Compa and IF. Her grin was still on her face, although it was definitely more forced than before.

"Only I can do that to Iffy," Compa said under her breath, inaudible to all but one other.

IF shivered. She really hoped she had heard that wrong.

**x~X~x**

"Ugh…" IF groaned as she dragged herself to the guild desk. "I hate tentacles…"

Things had gone fine with the last push to twenty-five percent, at least until the last quest anyways. If IF ever found out which developer thought it was a good idea to make creatures with tentacles she was going to have a very long and 'pointed' talk with them.

"You alright IF?" asked the receptionist. IF was a regular at the Guild and, if truth be told, ended up on the bulk of the quests above E-Rank, either with Neptune or with Neverlan.

"I'll be fine after I do a normal quest…" IF grumbled. Neptune had somehow done it, she had miraculously brought Planeptune's shares up to twenty-five percent. IF had only been forced to suffer two embarrassing situations in the process, thankfully with Compa there it had been split equally between the two of them.

And despite IF's wishful thinking, Neptune had NOT forgotten about R-18 Island.

Which meant that tomorrow she was going on a shopping trip with Compa to find a new bathing suit. That looked to be the most pleasant aspect of the entire trip as they were taking a ship from Port Hole in eastern Lastastion to R-18 Island, with Falcom.

She had barely won the argument to take the overland route to Lastation. It was bad enough they had to take a ship to reach the island, IF wasn't going to press her luck any further than that, especially with that giant octopus monster thing lurking in the waters around Leanbox.

Shaking those ominous thoughts from her head she went over the list of A-Rank missions that were displayed before her. She wasn't really considering doing any of them by herself, it was more out of curiosity as to what was there.

She liked to be kept up to date on the latest quests in case a rare one suddenly came around. Rare Quests were special in that they were one-of-a-kind. They couldn't be repeated and often gave incredible rewards for accomplishing it.

She was about to move on to the B-Rank missions when one of the missions caught her eye.

"This is weird, an A-Rank courier mission?" IF asked curiously as she tapped on the holographic display:

**Rank:** A  
**Mission Type:** Courier  
**Share Gain:** Planeptune Increase - 15% (Guaranteed)  
**Quest Giver:** Random NPC 60173  
**Description:** Delivery of incredibly valuable, one of a kind item to a specific individual. Item is worth more than the GDP of Planeptune. Level 50+ Adventurer required, background checks will be conducted. Further information will be provided upon face-to-face meeting after required checks have been completed.  
**Reward:** 250,000 Credits, (?)

"Oh, that is a new addition to the quest board, came in just this morning," the receptionist replied.

IF's eyebrows were up past her bangs by the time she finished reading the quest description, "Is this legitimate? That's a lot of credits, and a 15% increase in shares? Even S-Rank quests never give more than 8%." This was definitely one of those rare quests she had just been thinking about.

What's more it said Guaranteed, that meant that Neptune herself didn't need to be a part of the quest for the shares to rise. All quests had an amount of 'shares' it will grant the nation if completed, but that usually only came into effect if the CPU herself participated in the quest. The exception to this was if there was a 'Guaranteed' flag set beside the shares. For these quests the share increase would happen even without the CPU.

IF's efforts to do every single quest with a 'Guaranteed' flag beside it was the only reason Planeptune was still afloat.

"I don't know about the shares but the credits have already been deposited in the vault, so that much is true," the receptionist replied. When it came to monetary and physical rewards, the quest giver would hand it over to the Guild to take care of until such a time that the quest is completed. That ensured the legitimacy of the quest.

Shares however were a different story, those were much more biased, although they were generally pretty close to the mark. The few quests that had been incorrect had only been off by a percent or two.

"What's this question mark?" IF asked as she poked the triple question mark beside the credits on the display.

"As it was explained to us, it's a custom reward tailored to the individual that accepts the quest. That's why it's not displayed because it'll be different for each person."

"Interesting," IF said as she eyed the quest thoughtfully. How hard could a courier quest be? She was one of the fastest adventurers out there, she could outrun just about anything, and with her experience in the wild she knew all the secret tricks to getting around fast, or staying out of sight.

She was also over level 50.

"Here's the form," the receptionist said as she laid a small tablet down on the counter in front of IF. She had worked here long enough to know that look in IF's eyes. The brunette was definitely going to accept the quest.

"Thank you," IF said as she tapped a few buttons on the tablet and hit send. IF regularly went through background checks for the Guild. Anyone that ever does an S-Rank quest has to go through that process. So for her it was more just sending the information that was already collected on her to the quest giver.

"What can you tell me about the quest giver?" IF asked, her curiosity was definitely peaked by this rare A-Rank courier mission. It was an odd, if simple, quest so she wanted to know as much about the quest giver as possible.

"Not much, he's very much like me," the receptionist said as she pointed at herself. The receptionist was just a grey shadowy outline of a female figure. Since she was so irrelevant to the overall plot of the story there wasn't any reason to give her a proper description. Even her name was nothing more than her title.

"Ah, so he really is just a random NPC," IF commented.

"Yes, although he has quite the handsome outline," the receptionist said in a dreamy voice. There was a slight darkening of her shadowy face as a shadow of a blush appeared. "His lines were in all the right places and he was just the right shade of grey."

"Ah… right…" IF said as she eyed the receptionist oddly. "Any response yet?" she asked, hoping to be done here as soon as possible. With her luck recently things were going to get very weird if she hung around one place for too long.

"Oh!" the receptionist said, the questioned startled her and jerk her back into reality. She hurriedly glanced down at the tablet and noticed that a response had been sent. "Ah, right, yes, well it seems your background was accepted, the client will meet with you to discuss the rest of the quest."

"Great, where do I meet with the NPC?"

"12 Neptune Drive, Unit 1227," the receptionist replied.

"That's right beside the Basilicom," IF noted. The Basilicom sat on its own miniature island surrounded by lush parks. The closest city block contained housing and services for the richest of individuals on Planeptune, anyone that wanted to 'be in the know' or was 'famous and popular' had a place there. Neptune Drive was a skyway that encompassed that city block and 12 Neptune Drive actually referred to the large condo complex just across the river from the Basilicom. It was quite expensive to live there, she should know, she had a place there as well. It was odd that a random NPC could afford to live there, usually everyone in that complex had a real description. "Let the quest giver know I'm on my way."

"Of course, IF."

**~o~**

"1223… 1225… there, 1227," IF stopped counting the doors as she found the one she was looking for.

From the outside every door looked the same as every other door so it was impossible to tell them apart from each other. The hallway had a crisp, clean look. The floor was made out of an opaque white crystal material that was harder than diamond and the walls were made out of a soft blue metal. There was a small alcove at regular intervals where the door to the room was inset.

Room 1227, IF noted, was butted up against the outside wall and it gave a great view of the Basilicom from its windows. Not as great as her own of course, but it wasn't bad. Her room was actually a penthouse suite that took up the entirety of the 75th floor that included an outdoor pool and a balcony that circled the building. Being one of the few adventurers that did S-Rank missions she was more than rich enough to afford anything, and being friends of Neptune and Histoire allowed her to get a special discount on the room.

Histoire wanted her close at hand in case Neptune got out of hand, which happened about every other week. It was one of compensations she did receive for dealing with Neptune on a regular basis. The amenities the room came with did wonders for helping her relax after a long day.

Now if only she could convince Compa to move in with her…

IF shook her head vigorously to clear those thoughts and slapped her cheeks. "Focus IF, we're here to do a quest."

Taking a deep breath to regain her composure IF rang the doorbell, a small button inlaid into the wall beside the door. She didn't hear anything but that wasn't a big surprise, the rooms were all soundproofed.

A few seconds later however the door did open up to reveal the quest giver. He was just like the receptionist said, a random NPC, all grey and outliney without any real substance. Although IF did have to admit that perhaps the receptionist had been right about the outlines. There was a tad more detail to them than normal, if he had been an important enough character to actually have a description he probably could have been handsome.

Not that IF particularly cared about men in that regard.

"Thank you for accepting my quest, IF," Random NPC 60173 said graciously as he stepped back and beckoned for IF to come in, "the quest item is inside."

"It's not a problem, I was looking for something relatively normal," IF said as she stepped into the room. She took off her boots at the door and followed his grey outline as he made his way further into the house.

"I can understand why, Neptune can be a little much to handle for extended periods of time," the random NPC said understandingly.

IF's head jerked in surprise, "I never said anything about Neptune…" she said and frowned slightly, she suddenly became suspicious of this 'random' NPC, he seemed to know way too much.

"You don't need to, you're IF, it's well known across the city that you're a close friend of the Goddess and the Oracle. You've been seen openly walking around with her the past few weeks, and I know how troublesome Neptune can be."

IF had to grudgingly accept that. It wasn't like her connection and relationship to Neptune and Histoire was a very big secret, nor had she really bothered to keep a low profile while walking around the city with Neptune.

She just didn't expect such a random NPC…

That train of thought came crashing to a halt as she entered the living room. The entire place was painted a shade of purple that was identical to that of Neptune's eye color. What's more the entire room was FILLED with Neptune memorabilia: Plushies, figurines, posters, pictures, even a couple outfits identical to Neptune's along with life size mannequins, a body pillow with her likeness on it, and much more.

And that didn't even begin to cover the enormous amount of Purple Heart memorabilia. If anything the number of items of Neptune in her transformed state surpassed that of her normal form.

"Now everything makes sense," IF mumbled under her breath.

This NPC was a Neptune fanatic.

"I see you admire my collection, I love Neptune," the random NPC said unabashed as he spread his arms wide and whirled around the room. "But because I'm just a random NPC I'll never get to meet her in person."

That was due mostly because of the Basilicom's screening tactics. Many people often tried to see Neptune for whatever reason. But because of the sheer number the Basilicom restricted entry and barred all those that didn't have a proper description.

Those that did have a description were allowed entry and from there the real screening process happened. You didn't need a unique description to enter, there were many cookie-cutter descriptions that were copied and pasted from individual to individual that got through every day, but you needed something.

IF felt kind of sorry for the man and said nothing more. These memorabilia were probably the closest he'd ever get to the Goddess he worshipped. Plus if his devotion helped increase the shares and wealth of Planeptune, who was she to question it?

It's not like her own place wasn't filled with Compa memorabilia so she wasn't really in any position to judge him about it.

"So where is the quest item and what's that final custom reward mentioned in the quest?" IF asked as she got down to business.

"Ah, right," the NPC said and rushed over to a safe embedded in the wall. He quickly input a series of combination codes, along with genetic profiling, and the door popped open with a hiss. He reached inside and carefully pulled something out. "This is it."

'This' was actually a circular crystal with a purple sheen to it that almost looked like a disc, but was much smaller than the standard DVD's used by most nations. It certainly looked more valuable than the standard discs but she didn't see how it was worth as much as the quest said it was.

"It certainly… looks special," IF said doubtfully as she accepted the disc from random NPC 60173.

"The disc itself isn't what's so special, although it's rare enough seeing how it was custom created, no it's the information on it. It's priceless beyond your wildest dreams… or so I was told"

"What do you mean?"

"I'm just a middle man, really, the actual owner she well…" The Random NPC trailed off, unsure of how to phrase it properly.

"You don't need to say anything, I know, confidentiality and all that right?"

The Random NPC bobbed his head, unable to make a grateful facial expression without a face. "Right, that's it exactly."

"Well I guess it doesn't matter, this is a quest and I will complete it."

"I do know that it's a Memory Disc," the random NPC said, "it contains precious memories. That's all I'm able to say about it, sorry."

IF nodded and said no more. There was no need to push for more information. It wasn't like she was delivering a dangerous object or anything that could blow up in her face. Discs like this could only contain information. Sometimes that information was sensitive but as a courier it wasn't her place to question what was on it, nor would anyone blame her if the information turned out to be malicious code's.

"The quest reward?"

"I have something special for you," the random NPC said, "it won't appear right away but I can guarantee that if you deliver this disk your misfortune when dealing with Neptune will disappear."

"I'm not sure I understand."

"I mean that you won't suffer because of her antics anymore."

"Who do you want the disc delivered to?" IF asked quickly. If this reward really did protect her from all the misfortune that befalls her when dealing with Neptune she'd kick down the very gates of Hell itself.

The random NPC popped up a screen in front of him and quickly composed an e-mail, "Here's the information, I need you to deliver it to this individual," the NPC said as he hit the send button.

IF read the information. The quest really was very simple. If it wasn't because of the supposed value of the disc to the quest giver it could have easily been rated as a D or E rank courier quest. It didn't even require her to leave Planeptune, although it did require her to travel to the outskirts.

"And the person is…" IF trailed off.

"Yes, the girl the Memory Disc needs to be delivered to should be listed at the end of the e-mail."

IF nodded, she saw it there, at the end.

Gear.

**x~X~x**

Planeptune Swimwear was the premiere place to go if one wanted to find the best swimwear credits could buy. There was only one store, located in the heart of Planeptune, only a couple city blocks away from the Basilicom itself. It was popular enough that it could have easily created branch stores in different cities, the demand was there, but they had opted to keep only one store. The exclusivity, and quality, of their work only served to heighten the desire for their brand. They were able to charge anything they wanted for the swimwear, and people ate it up.

They had put out all the other swimwear stores in the city out of business, or forced them to expand into other areas.

The store was a large circular building with a domed roof. Soft blue luminescent lights bathed the walls in color both during the day and at night. There were multiple entrances and levels to the building. The lower levels were reserved for men's swimwear while the upper floors housed the women.

There was no restriction on access despite that however, as often men and women would buy swimwear for their significant other, or be there while said other tried on the various swimsuits.

There were even a few special sound proof change rooms for couples that wanted to explore the 'compatibility' of the clothing further than strictly necessary. Of course it came with a caveat of 'you break it you buy it.'

Despite the popularity of the store, it didn't see much excitement. People came, tried on swimsuits, bought one, and then left. Sometimes there was the odd request to try out the special change rooms but hardly anything to get excited over.

That changed however the moment Neptune walked into the store. Although it was more accurate to say it was Purple Heart as she floated into the store in her HDD form.

Few recognized her in her normal form, and all of them were close friends, but everyone recognized her in her HDD form. It was impossible not to. She had long purple hair tied up into twin tails that almost reached her feet and bright blue eyes with white pupils in the shape of power symbols. She had black hairclips in her hair with glowing blue d-pad shapes on them. She wore a skin tight black body suit with purple accents and a deep V that exposed most of her upper body and a great deal of cleavage. A pair of black boots covered her feet and her legs were covered up to her thighs with the same type of material as her body suit. A pair of see-through luminescent wings hovered behind her back and provided her the ability to levitate and fly.

Everyone in the store froze and stared as their Goddess floated in. It wasn't often that she graced the commoners with her presence, especially since she spent ninety-nine percent of her time locked up in her room playing video games.

They were so preoccupied with her presence that few noticed the three people following close behind her.

The Vice President of Marketing and Sales, a tall, beautiful woman with long black hair and blue eyes, came bursting out of the backroom. She quickly rushed up to meet Neptune, her elegant purple satin dress, cut with a deep V, swishing around her feet. Neptune, when she was transformed, was far too important to leave in the hands of the common employees. She deserved someone that had an actual description, even if the VP wasn't important enough to have a very long one or a unique name.

"How can I help you, my Goddess," the VP said respectfully, stopping just to the side of Neptune. She would do whatever she could to get her Goddess to buy one of their swimsuits, she was even willing to give one away for free. The publicity it would generate for the store would be astronomical and would cover the cost of the swimsuit many times over.

"My friends and I are heading to a beach resort soon," Neptune said as she gestured behind her towards IF, Compa and Falcom. "We'd like some swimsuits."

"Yes, of course you've come to the right place," the VP said as she gestured towards the large selection of apparel, "we have the widest selection of swimwear in Gamindustri. I am proud to say if you can't find it here, you can't find it anywhere. Do you have a particular preference?"

"A nice two-piece, something elegant," Neptune said as she glanced around the store.

"I want something sporty," Falcom said.

"I'm fine, I already have one, I'm just—"

"No Iffy! A girl must always buy new clothing when heading out somewhere special!" Compa protested vigorously.

"But it's just a—"

"She'll have a string bikini!" Compa cut IF off. The brunette let out an indignant squawk and began to blush. "And I want something cute."

"I'm not wearing—"

"Right this way, we can satisfy all your requests," the VP said, talking over IF. Selling swimsuits to adventurers as famous as IF and Falcom would generate a lot of publicity as well, not as much as Purple Heart herself but a significant amount regardless, especially if coupled with Purple Heart's. In the VP's eyes, IF, Falcom and Purple Heart were covered in dollar bills and she wanted to dip her hands into them no matter the cost.

IF let out a resigned sigh, the writer just wasn't going to let her get a word in edge wise and she knew it. She silently followed behind the others as the Vice President led them further into the store, cringing as they made their way past the more modest swimsuits to the more daring ones. IF hoped the quest reward kicked in soon because this was almost more than she could take.

Although now that she thought about it, the reward didn't mention anything about protecting her from Compa.

Neptune stopped as she saw a swimsuit on one of the mannequins. It was a simple black two-piece swimsuit. The top strung around the back and the neck. There was no string to tighten it that she could see. It wasn't what one would consider elegant but it looked very nice.

The VP noticed her pause and her eyes brightened as she saw Neptune gaze at the swimsuit. "Do you like that one? It's a display model but we have the real ones in the back. They're made out of a special material that moulds itself to your body. One size fits all. It's very soft to the touch, but at the same time it's stronger than most metals, making it very durable and hard to ruin. It comes with a life-time guarantee."

Neptune nodded, "I like it, I want to try it on."

"But of course," the VP said. She turned and snapped her fingers. Instantly a cookie cutter store employee appeared at her side. This employee looked like all the other employees that helped out around the store, there was absolutely nothing remarkable about her. "Go into the back and bring our Goddess her bathing suit."

"Right away!" the cookie cutter employee said as she hurried into the back room.

"That was quick," Neptune said as she sensed Falcom approach from behind with a swimsuit already procured. Neptune hadn't even sensed her leave in the first place.

"Heh, I knew what I wanted the moment I stepped in this store," Falcom said as she came up beside Neptune, dressed in her new swimsuit. It was a simple white two-piece bathing suit with light blue accents and came with a pair of light blue sandals. The top of the bathing suit looked very much like a sports bra, but was made out of vastly different materials, with a zipper on the front. "I've had my eyes on this for a while now."

"Why didn't you buy it earlier?"

"It's… a little pricey," Falcom admitted. Despite doing a lot of high rank quests she didn't have a lot of spare money to spend. For some reason insurance companies kept going after her to pay for the damages done to the ships that sunk with her on them.

Why they seemed to think it was her fault they sunk she had no idea but they ended up draining most of her funds. It was easier just to pay than to try to fight it.

"Well this one is on me," Neptune said with a light smile on her face. She could draw upon the coffers that people donated to, they were virtually limitless. She never actually did anything with them unlike the other nations. Despite Histoire using the 'bankruptcy' fear on her a few weeks ago to get her moving, they weren't really in any danger of that. The greatest danger was her own failing health if Planeptune's shares fell too far. If a nation's shares fell below three percent it would send the Goddess into coma. The city itself would be fine though, it had enough surplus funds it could last a hundred years without any shares. Plenty of time for Histoire to find a new CPU.

"Thanks," Falcom said and smile back at Neptune. The smile disappeared when she noticed two people were missing, "Where's IF and Compa?"

"Miss IF and Miss Compa are trying out a pair of swim suits in the change room, I can take you to them," the VP said.

"Yes, please."

"Right this way."

The three of them moved through the store and soon found themselves at the change rooms. It wasn't very far away from where they had been. The three of them heard Compa and IF long before they ever actually arrived though.

"You can't be serious!" IF's voice floated out from within the change room.

"Come on Iffy, for me?"

"No! No way! There isn't even any fabric on that!"

"Sure there is, just give me a second to find it for… ah ha! Here it is, see?"

"Where?"

"Right here!"

"That's a sticker!"

"Oh don't over exaggerate things, stickers are larger than this. Now, off with your clothes, let's see how it looks!"

A sweat drop rolled down the back of Neptune's head. She really wanted to go in there and save IF from her plight but she didn't want to get dragged into whatever misfortune Compa was inflicting onto IF.

"Wait, Compa, please no! There isn't even a back to it!"

The sounds of struggling poured out of the change room as Compa expertly stripped IF of her clothing despite the IF's attempts to stop her.

"Iffy! What is this?"

"What is what?"

"You're not taking proper care of yourself," Compa's voice became tinged with disapproval.

"What are you talking about? I bathe regularly… wait… what are you going to do with that roll of tape?"

"A girl must always be ready, just in case!"

"Wait WAIT WAIT-WAIT-NO!"

**RIIIIIPPPP!**

Neptune winced as a high pitch yelp exploded out from the change room. She could only imagine the pain IF was going through due to the impromptu 'beautification' session.

The employee the VP had sent off to get Neptune's swimsuit appeared with it in her hands, "Here is your swimsuit—"

"That's one side…"

"NOOOOOOOOOOO!"

**RIIIIIPPPP!**

Both Neptune and Falcom winced that time. That sounded extremely painful. Even the VP had started to shake a little, wondering if she should do something to save her customer.

It also made Neptune glad she didn't need to go through that. One of the perks of her HDD form was that she could customize it, and that included deciding how much, or how little, hair there was, on any part of her body.

The employee with Neptune's swimsuit had a frightened look on her face, like a deer caught in headlights. Neptune took pity on her and turned to get her swimsuit from the poor employee so they could flee from this scene, "Thank you," Neptune said politely as she did her best to ignore that painful sounds coming from within the change room.

"A-a-ah… I…"

"That will be all, Cookie Cutter Employee 043," the VP said as she took the bathing suit from the shaking employee.

"Ah, right," the employee said and was gone in the blink of an eye. Her survival instincts warned her that it was better to be anywhere but there.

"Here is your swimsuit, Purple Heart," the VP said as she held the swimsuit out in her hands. There was a pair of black sandals to go with the swimsuit, all of their swimwear had footwear to go with it. "There is a free change room beside…"

A whimper floated its way out from the change room with IF and Compa.

The VP coughed and ignored the sound.

"Thank you," Neptune said as she accepted the swimsuit and headed into the empty change room beside IF and Compa. She too ignored the pitiful sounds that were coming from within that particular change room.

It only took her a few moments to change into the swimsuit. Her own HDD suit could be dissolved or summoned upon will so it took her only a single moment to strip herself of her standard clothing and a few more to put on the new bathing suit.

The VP had been right, it had looked quite large at first but once she had it on it tightened up around her body, practically moulding to it like a second skin. It was very comfortable, more so than Neptune would have thought. It almost felt like she wasn't wearing anything at all.

"It looks very nice on you, Purple Heart," the VP said approvingly as Neptune stepped out of the change room.

"No one is going to see the rest of us, they're going to be too busy staring at you," Falcom said as she admired Neptune in her bathing suit. Falcom wasn't lesbian, or even bisexual, but seeing Neptune looking like that was making her seriously reconsider her sexual preferences.

"It does look good on me, doesn't it?" Neptune said as she her arms up and placed her hands behind her head, posing for the two of them, "but then, I can make anything look good."

"Yes, you certainly are the pinnacle of perfection," the VP gushed. "So, are you happy with that swimsuit?"

"Yes, I—"

There was a camera flash in the distance.

"GUARDS!" the VP roared. Instantly six huge burly men, with muscles so huge the muscles had muscles, appeared at her side. "Camera!"

Nothing more needed to be said.

The six guards tore a warpath through the store as they headed for the source of the camera flash. The store had a strict policy against anyone videotaping or photographing anything inside the store. They did it to protect their customer's privacy as many did exactly what Neptune had just done, posed for their friends or loved ones. That posing wasn't for the general public and the store took great pride in the fact that they stringently guarded the privacy of their customers.

It didn't take long for the guards to close in on their target. Despite the rules, and despite the reputation the bruisers had, many people still tried to sneak pictures and videos out of the store.

The bruisers had plenty of experience.

"No! Wait! It wasn't me!"

They always said that as well whenever they were caught.

The VP turned back to Neptune as the sound of fists hitting flesh resounded across the store. "I apologize for that, Purple Heart, we will make sure that the perpetrator does not escape unpunished."

After all, only Planeptune Swimwear was allowed to publish and distribute images of Purple Heart in her swimsuit.

"I see," Neptune didn't say anything else. It's not like she disliked having her picture taken, and considering she was going to a beach it was kind of pointless to try and stop it, but she wasn't going to countermand the shop rules.

There was the sound of shattering glass and crunching metal, "NOOO! MY CAMERA!"

"Everything has been taken care of," the VP said with a demure smile on her face.

And with good timing as well as the door to IF's and Compa's change room opened up. Compa stepped out a cute frilled white swimsuit with pink polka-dots. It was a simple two-piece bikini, nothing overly special about it, although it did struggle to contain Compa's ample breasts. It was a commonly held belief that hers were the biggest in Planeptune.

"How do I look?" Compa asked sweetly as she did a little twirl for her audience.

"It suits you," Neptune said, there wasn't much to comment on about it.

"I'm more interested in what you got IF," Falcom said with a grin on her face.

"I got her a great swimsuit!" Compa said with a huge smile on her face. She glanced back over her shoulder into the change room, "Come on out Iffy, show Nep-Nep your new swimsuit."

"THIS ISN'T A SWIMSUIT!" came the protest from within.

"Oh don't be such a poopy head," Compa said as she reached into the change room and yanked IF out.

Neptune and Falcom were struck speechless, and not in a good way.

The VP started to sweat nervously. That swimsuit Compa had chosen for IF wasn't actually a swimsuit, it was just strips and pieces of prototype material they wanted to use to make the next generation of swimsuits. They were testing material that stuck to the skin and didn't need to be tied up.

The VP hoped Neptune didn't want it, it wasn't even supposed to be on sale and it was their only prototype. She didn't even know how it got out of R&amp;D.

"Don't you think Iffy looks great in this?" Compa asked as she showed IF off to everyone. She whirled IF around for them all to see.

"Where's the swimsuit?" That was Falcom, not really believing what she was seeing.

"It's right here!" Compa said as she pointed at the 'swimsuit.'

The top didn't even exist, it was simply pieces of circular material slapped over IF's nipples, it didn't even cover the entire areola. The bottom was even worse. There was a thin strip of cloth that just 'barely' covered the area between her legs, and that was it. The swimsuit made Band-Aids feel concealing.

There was no back to it, her ass was completely bare and exposed to the world.

"Ah, Compa, I'm going to have to say no to this," Neptune said carefully, "That doesn't look like a swimsuit." She turned to the VP and raised an eyebrow asking for an explanation of… whatever it was that IF was wearing.

The VP grabbed hold of the opening Neptune gave her, "I'm sorry," she apologized profusely and bowed low before her Goddess, "I did not realize that was out someplace where it could be seen. That's actually a prototype designed to test new materials, it's not really a swimsuit and…"

"I understand, Compa, please find something else for IF," Neptune said, coming to her friend's rescue. As much as she didn't want to get involved with Compa's dress-up session with IF, this went a little far.

"Aw, fooy, alright, fine, we'll settle with this," Compa said as she pulled out a small blue and white stripped bikini from out of thin air. The top was a little small but so were IF's breasts so it still managed to cover everything. All in all it was a pretty normal bikini.

The look of relief on IF's face was beyond the ability of words to express. She looked as if she had just been at the very edge of a cliff that yawned over a deep, endless abyss and had been dragged back and tossed into Heaven instead.

"Yes! I'll take that!" IF shouted eagerly as she reached for the bikini, "Anything but-but… this!" she gestured at the tiny pieces of material stuck to her body.

The VP let out a sigh of relief as IF disappeared back into the change room. Disaster was averted. She would have to berate the R&amp;D department for leaving it out for someone to find, and then congratulate them for a job well done. The material worked exactly as they had hoped, it stuck just fine. Stage 1 testing was done, now they could move onto Stage 2.

It only took IF a few seconds to change and come back out of the change room in a swimsuit that could actually be considered a real swimsuit.

"I never thought a swimsuit could feel so concealing," IF said as she stepped out of the change room. She took a deep breath and released a long sigh of relief.

"So is everyone happy with their swimsuits?" Neptune asked her friends. The three of them nodded their heads. Turning to the Vice President Neptune gave her a smile. "I think we're done here, we'll take these four."

"Very good, please, follow me and we'll see about getting you pushed through cash quickly," the VP said as she ushered the group through the store.

**~o~**

"Whew, that was damn close… if that pervert hadn't been there to take the fall I'd be a dead man," Random NPC 60173 said as he sat on the edge of a building overlooking Planeptune's Swimwear. "Random NPC's like me aren't important enough to be protected by plot devices."

He tilted the digital camera he had in his hands a little and glanced at that singular, perfect image of Neptune posing in the store. It was a thing of beauty. The angle had been perfect, the light couldn't have been any better, and her pose, her pose was simply exquisite.

This was definitely getting blow up into a full size poster and tacked to the ceiling above his bed.

"Of course I'm not a pervert," he said to himself. It wasn't like he was trying to see Neptune in the nude, simply when she was at her best, and it certainly didn't get any better than this. He simply had a healthy appreciate for all the fine things that were Neptune.

"Oh! There she is again!" he said as Neptune left the store with her friends behind her. They were still clothed in their swimwear, much to the NPC's delight.

He quickly brought his legs up and hid over the lip of the roof. He brought his camera out in front and began to zoom in on Neptune.

Perhaps he'd get a few more really good shots before she disappeared through the skyways.

**x~X~x**

"I wonder who could have sent this to me," Gear said as she looked the crystal disc over. It was certainly quite pretty and she could tell there was data stored on it, but she hadn't a clue what was on it, or why she had received it.

Maybe it had something to do with what she was?

Gear was a special individual; everyone around her knew it even if she herself protested against it. The reason for this was her description. She had long purple hair with a white d-pad clip and vibrant purple eyes. Her three sizes were 78, 56, and 80 and was a little over five feet tall. She wore a white and purple school girl outfit with matching boots and thigh high pink and white stripped stockings. She looked very similar to Neptune, in fact one could almost say that she looked like an older version of her.

She had a remarkable appearance and it was because of this appearance that everyone knew she was special. After all, Gamindustri never put that much effort in creating an appearance unless you were destined for something more than just a simple random background NPC.

"Perhaps it was a secret admirer?" Gear asked herself curiously as she turned the disc over. With her unique description many people often vied for her attention, hoping that when she became important that they too would become important by proxy.

The window to her room, a simple one-bedroom apartment a ways away from the Basilicom, opened up and a mysterious shadowy figure slipped into the room.

Feeling the wind upon her cheeks she turned towards the window and started in fright, "What the goodness? W-who are you?" Gear stammered as she back up against the wall in fear.

"…" the shadowy figure said, too low for the readers to make out.

"What?! That's not my—"

Before Gear could finish the shadowy mysterious figure moved like lightning. A hand lashed out and the disc was slammed into Gear's chest.

Gear screamed in pain and collapsed onto the bed.

"…" the shadowy figure said and backed away from the writhing female.

"It-it hurts…" the purple haired girl whimpered as she twisted and turned on her bed. Her head felt like it was on fire and about to explode. Her body felt it there was something writhing just beneath the skin, trying to burst out from within, and she could feel something latching onto her soul, taking over. It hurt and terrified her.

"…"

The mysterious figure didn't really want to hurt Gear, but there was no other choice. This wasn't the standard method for this to happen, but the standard method couldn't be used in this situation.

"AHHH!" Gear screamed in pain as she was pushed over a threshold she didn't know she possessed. Her body began to glow with a soft pink light. The light continued to build, getting stronger and stronger until it exploded in a massive display of light and color that filled the room.

When the light dissipated Gear was different. Her hair was a vibrant pink color with brilliant blue eyes that had white pupils in the shape of a power symbol. She was clothed in a skin-tight white bodysuit with light purple designs. She wore a pair of white, arm length gloves with a small N symbol on the back of the hand along with a pair of matching thigh-high boots.

"…" the silent question hung in the air.

The standard method wouldn't accomplish what needed to be accomplished.

It took a few moments for Nepgear to respond as she struggled to get her breathing back under control. Pangs of pain still arced through her body from time to time but it wasn't anything like before. "I… I'm alive… how?"

"…"

"You!" Nepgear said in surprise as she recognized the mysterious intruder, a happy smile crossed her face, "Thank you… you… must have gone through…" she winced as a particularly sharp lance of pain shot up her spine. A memory suddenly appeared at the forefront of her mind, "What about Neptune? How is my sister?"

It wasn't enough to transform Gear into a CPU Candidate.

"…" There was a long silence as the unknown speaker spoke at length in tones too quiet for anyone but Nepgear to hear.

Tears began to leak from the Nepgear's eyes.

"No…"

"…"

"Really?"

"..."

"To think you would go so far for us."

"…"

"Oh!" Nepgear exclaimed in surprise, "I-I never knew, does she?"

"…"

Nepgear's eyes became downcast. That was just too sad. She'd have to do something about that.

"…"

"Yes! I'll do what I can, I promise."

Nepgear needed the memories of BEING a CPU Candidate as well, nothing less would suffice.


	3. The Trip to R-18

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hyperdimension Neptunia. All characters, thoughts and ideas that exist in this story that were taken from the original works belong to their creators, Compile Heart and Idea Factory. Only original thoughts and or characters created in this story are my own.**

**Chapter 3: The Trip to R-18**

"Hiyah!" Neptune shouted as she cut through the Kupokitty, a small monster resembling a cute stuffed cat standing on its two hind legs, and defeated it in a single strike.

The enemies on the road between Planeptune and Lastation were pretty low level. The frequent traffic through the area kept prevented both the numbers, and the strength, of the monsters from getting out of hand. The same could be said for the major road from Lastation to Lowee. Lastation, since it imported goods from all the nations to help develop their hardware, patrolled the two paths on a regular basis.

Neptune ignored the victory screen that popped up beside her that displayed the experience, credits and items she had earned during the battle as she rushed to the top of the hill. A huge grin split her face as she looked into the distance.

"Hey look Iffy! It's Lastation!" Neptune said cheerfully as she pointed at the sprawling metropolis that could be seen on the horizon. They were close enough to Lastation now that they could make it there before the end of the day if they hurried.

Although Planeptune was technically larger than Lastation due its large parks and sprawling city design that encompassed a very large area, Lastation was the most populous city in Gamindustri. Its design was far more compact and utilitarian than Planeptune's.

While the theme of Planeptune had been futuristic, Lastation was industrial. Everything had a very industrialized look to it. In the very center of Lastation, towering above the rest of the city by a fair bit, was the Basilicom. It was an enormous structure that lacked grace and elegance but made up for it with presence and intimidation.

"I see it, but we don't need to go there to get to Port Hole," IF said as she stared at the Basilicom in the distance.

"I agree with Iffy, the place is stinky and makes my hair smell real bad," Compa agreed.

"Oh don't be such a downer. I'm gonna go talk to Noire and see if she wants to go," Neptune said and took off towards Lastation before anyone could stop her.

"Damn it Nep!" IF shouted as she ran after her friend.

"Wait for me Iffy, Nep-Nep!" Compa raced after them.

Falcom let out a laugh and shook her head helplessly, "I guess I better follow as well."

**~o~**

Blanc was a soft spoke, quiet individual that looked pure, innocent, and demure. One could easily pass her off as a shy, introverted individual, provided they didn't know what lurked just beneath the surface. Her appearance was that of a cute young girl with short brown hair and blue eyes. A small, soft white fur hat with blue frills topped her head. Like her initial impression she gave of her personality, she looked pure, innocent, and demure as well.

She wore a short dress with black edging. It was pleated and ended just above mid-thigh, held up by a pair of thin straps that went over her shoulders. The dress was armless and would have exposed a lot of cleavage, had the young looking girl had any to expose. Her breast size sat quite comfortably in the A range. While the dress was sleeveless, her arms were covered by a pair of sleeves that looked as if they had once belonged to a coat that was too big for her. The sleeves ran up her arms, ending just below her shoulder and were lined with warm looking fur. The entire outfit was finished with a pair of normal looking blue and white female boots.

She was seated at a small, ornate table situated in the center of a large room, facing another, older looking woman, across it, "So what do you think about my proposal?" Blanc asked softly as she tapped her finger on her copy of the proposal. There was an identical one across the table in front of the host.

This was something that could have easily been discussed with voice over ip programs but she didn't want to risk it being leaked to the other nations so she had come in person, and even had physical copies of the proposal.

The person on the other side of the table was Noire, the CPU of Lastation. She was a fair skinned beauty with long dark hair, held up in two ponytails by blue ribbons that framed a doll like face and piercing red eyes. She wore an elegant white dress that was covered by a black, button-up, overlay with gold lining and topped off with a black collar with white trim that was tied together with blue ribbon. Her arms were covered in long black sleeves that covered the back of her hands, attached to a ring on her middle fingers, and the upper portion was topped with white frills. On her feet was a pair of thigh length black boots with white frilly trim.

"I think it's… interesting," Noire said as she scanned over it again. She had heard it from Blanc's lips but she wanted to make sure there wasn't any fine print hidden in the proposal that could snare her up, "but the last time we tried to work together you backed out and went your own way. Lastation almost tanked as a result."

Blanc's eyebrow twitched violently and she jumped out of her chair, her eyes glowing red with righteous anger. She slammed her fist on the table and pointed a finger at Noire, "that's not how I remember it you damn bitch! You fricken refused to uphold several elements of the agreement until you got the biggest piece of the pie!"

Noire flipped her hair over her shoulder and fired a cold glare back at Blanc, not backing down, or be intimidated in the slightest, by her anger, "it was Lastation's technology that would be powering the device, we would have suffered the brunt of the cost of production, it was only fair to reap an equal amount of profit."

And by profit Noire meant shares. There were several ways of building shares of for a nation. The most common one was for a Goddess to go out and do quests issued by the Guild for their people, but that only had an effect in the immediate area and rarely generated shares from outside the nation. However the Goddess could also build and develop new systems and peripherals for their nation. Releasing new hardware took far longer, and cost quite a bit of credits, but usually generated more shares than any quest could ever hope to, and the cascade was global as well, bringing in shares from all over Gamindustri instead of just the target nation.

As such the best way to successfully maintain a nation was to both develop new hardware and do quests. Nations where the Goddess only did quests, such as Planeptune, tended to have a lot of ups and downs in their shares. While Planeptune did have the most advanced console, and was years ahead of everyone else, their CPU had no hand in its development. It all came from Histoire and the R&amp;D department, and thus generated no shares.

Blanc forced herself calm again and settled back into her chair, this meeting wasn't about past grievances; it was about tomorrow's success. "This is different than the cd issue," Blanc murmured, her voice soft and quiet once again, "Leanbox is encroaching in our territories. We should agree to focus on our specialized fronts, you with your high fidelity graphics, and Lowee with motion capture."

Noire's brow furrowed in deep thought. Blanc was right, Leanbox was the first nation to provide both a viable motion capture option and high fidelity graphics. While neither were as powerful or sleek as Lastation and Lowee, the fact that one could get both in a single place was causing Leanbox to eat into Lastation's and Lowee's shares.

Lastation couldn't fight on both fronts, they had tried but were having trouble with motion controllers and time spent trying to develop one from the ground up was having a serious impact on their systems development. Building it into their already perfect controller made it less than perfect and she had trouble developing additional peripheral items to accomplish it. However their console did have the second most powerful graphics processing unit, just behind Planeptune, and could pump out full high fidelity movies and graphics very easily. Lowee had the opposite problem. By focusing so much time on motion capture, they had very good devices to accomplish that. However it came at the cost of not have as powerful hardware.

This proposal would be a means of fighting back. Lowee and Lastation would essentially agree not to poach each other's shares and focus almost singularly on poaching Leanbox's.

Planeptune's shares didn't matter as given a year or two those shares would automatically flow back their way, they always did.

Besides, Lastation had an ace of its sleeve even if this didn't work. They were developing an online community built into their hardware to make it easy to communicate and play with friends and even purchase online games.

But Blanc didn't need to know that.

"Alright, I agree, let's do this, but I don't want you to even CONSIDER betraying me again," Noire said as she wrote her name down on her copy of the proposal.

"We are agreed then," Blanc replied softly as she did to the same to hers.

"What are you two agreeing on?" Neptune asked as her head poked up over the edge of the table, her eyes darting back and forth between the two CPU's.

"GAH!" "KYAH!" Blanc and Noire shouted as they recoiled in surprise.

"Damn it Neptune!" Blanc roared in anger as she summoned her hammer from her inventory and swung it at ditzy Goddess.

"Whoa!" Neptune exclaimed as she back flipped out of Blanc's range. There was a loud whoosh as the hammer came within inches of hitting Neptune, ruffling her hoodie as it passed over the arched chest, "Watch it Blanc, that could have really hurt!"

"That was the point!"

"Are you two having like a super-secret lovers meeting or something?" Neptune asked eagerly, her eyes sparkled with curiosity, "that's fine, I won't judge you two for doing something so taboo, I'll keep it super tip top secret!"

"What the hell is going through that stupid head of yours to even make you THINK about coming to that conclusion?" Noire asked her, totally flabbergasted by the statement.

"Well, the two of you, sharing a romantic dinner, all alone, in a private setting, I mean with so many flags set how can you not think that?" Neptune gushed excitedly as she spun around in place, her arms spread wide as if absorbing all the feel-good lovey dovey emotions in the air.

"What dinner?!" Noire protested as she pointed at the empty table. There wasn't even a hint that any food had even touched it. Blanc and Noire had been quick to hide the agreement soon after Neptune's impromptu visit. "And Blanc's Oracle is right over there!" Noire pointed at the cyan haired woman that had accompanied Blanc to Lastation who was standing over by the far elevator.

"Hello, Neptune," Mina said as she tilted her head slightly, greeting the CPU of Planeptune politely.

"Ah don't worry about the details," Neptune said, waving off her protest. "You don't have to worry about my lose lips."

"The details are everything!"

"You're an idiot, Neptune," Blanc bit out harshly.

"Awww, don't say that! I cleared the game 'Silver Wolf Challenge' in two days!"

"I developed that game to teach pre-schoolers how to read," Blanc murmured softly, her anger was reined in once more. "It's only supposed to take a day."

Noire fought down her anger, it was so easy to get riled up at Neptune, that girl was the poster child for stupidity, along with many other not so flattering definitions. Noire honestly didn't think it was her fault, she had probably been dropped as a baby or something. "So what does the CPU of Planeptune want with me?" Noire asked Neptune who had apparently scaled the wall of the Basilicom and had snuck into her private quarters through the large balcony that overlooked the city without anyone noticing.

"Me and Iffy, and Compa and Commy are heading to an island beach resort," Neptune said to her fellow CPU as she crossed her arms behind her head and gave Noire a giant grin. "It's gonna be all kinds of fun."

"A-And why would I care if the four of you are going to a nice beach resort," Noire said as she turned away from Neptune. She wasn't jealous of the fact that Neptune had friends and could go to beach resorts with friends and have fun with friends.

"Damn it Nep! Don't run off like that," IF said as she vaulted over the side of the balcony.

"Nep-Nep! My hair is all gunky now," Compa cried as she climbed over the side of the balcony moments after IF.

"Hup!" Falcom did a spin in the air as she threw herself up and over the side and beside IF and Compa.

"Hey guys! Why didn't you use the front door?" Neptune waved to them happily.

"Why didn't YOU use the front door?" Noire demanded, whirling around to face the small goddess again. Neptune had used the same method to gain access to her Basilicom.

"We just followed you, Nep," IF said as she bent over and brushed the dirt and grime off her legs and coat, or at least tried to, some of it would need a real wash. Lastation was in a period of rapid growth and this was to do their focus on getting results rather than making sure their city was clean. It wasn't like Planeptune that was far beyond the industrial era or Lowee that had yet to enter it.

"Oh don't sweat the small stuff. But, Noire, that's a really big security flaw you have here," Neptune said as she turned back to her fellow goddess. "You must not get very many visitors."

Noire flushed both in anger and embarrassment, "That's not true! I-I get plenty of visitors! E-Everyone wants to meet me! I am the ideal goddess after all." At least that's what the polls all said. "And Blanc is here, so obviously I am more popular than you!"

"Don't drag me into this, I'm here for business," Blanc said as she backed away from Neptune and Noire. She knew how Neptune worked and didn't want to be anywhere near her when the crazy started flying around.

"Really?" Neptune said teasingly as she grinned up at Noire, "like who? Who wants to see you?"

"I-ah… well…" Noire looked away as she tried hard to come up with a response. She glanced over at Blanc who looked away. Damn traitor wasn't going to back her up in this situation, not that Noire honestly expected her to. She'd probably have done the same if Neptune had targeted Blanc.

"Who, who, who?"

She was saved by the bell, literally, when the bell on the elevator dinged signalling its arrival. The gate of the caged elevator opened up, "Noire, I brought the documents you wanted," a small girl wearing a small black dress with white accents with a hair style that was almost identical to Noire's stepped off the elevator. Her arms were full of documents.

"Ah, right, just place them over there, Uni," Noire said as she pointed to her desk in the middle of the room. She didn't say it aloud but she was glad for Uni's opportune arrival, it bought her enough time to think of something to fire back at Neptune.

"Right, did… did I do good?" Uni asked as she turned away from Noire shyly.

"Ya sure," Noire said, brushing Uni away distractedly with a wave of her hand, she wanted to deal with Neptune as quickly as possible, "A-Anyways, who my friends are for me to know! I don't need to tell you," Noire said as she focused her attention back of Neptune.

Uni flinched as if visibly struck, and made her way dejectedly towards the desk. Noire always ignored her or brushed her off as nothing, but each time she did something for her, Uni hoped that just maybe she'd get some acknowledgement. The depressed young girl set the documents down and sadly made her way back to the elevator.

Only Mina noticed her departure.

"Noire doesn't have any friends! Noire doesn't have any friends!" Neptune started to sing.

"No! That's not true!" Noire protested as she started to chase Neptune around the room. "Stop saying things like that! You'll give people the wrong impression!"

Blanc backed away until she ended up beside her oracle. She could sense it coming, the craziness she didn't want any part of. She made sure to give a lot of room for Noire and Neptune to run around.

"Poor girl," Mina said sadly, her eyes on the elevator that was disappearing into the floor.

"Don't feel sorry for that bitch, better her than us," Blanc replied, misinterpreting what Mina was talking about.

"I meant the little girl, Uni I think her name was," Mina said softly. She had a soft spot in her heart for young children. She wanted to go and comfort Uni but it wasn't right to interfere with the internal affairs of a foreign nation. Had Uni been just a random NPC, and not one of the highest ranking, and most depended upon individuals, in Lastation, Mina would already be at her side giving her some choice words of wisdom and a bosom to cry on.

"Noire is always like that," Blanc said softly as her eyes momentarily glanced over towards the elevator before going back to Neptune and Noire. She needed to keep an eye on those two so she could react quickly if they came near her. They had a habit of inadvertently dragging people into their little arguments. "It'll take some major event before…" Blanc had to stop and hold back a short laugh as Neptune failed to successfully vault over Noire's desk in her attempt to get away. The purple head goddess flailed helplessly for a few brief moments before she face planted into the ground. The desk quickly followed suit as it flipped over and landed on Neptune with a loud crash and an indignant squawk. Papers filled the air, as the reports Uni had painstakingly filled out for Noire went fluttering to the eight winds.

"GAH! All my reports! Do you have any idea how hard Uni worked on those?! Damn it Neptune stop running away from me and let me hit you!"

"So she does appreciate her," Mina said softly as she realized what Blanc was getting at. Since Blanc rarely got out, Mina rarely did as well. As a result she didn't know much about the finer details of the various personalities of the world's CPUs. She was learning more in these short few minutes that she had over the course of her entire life. "She just doesn't know how to show it."

"Hiya!" Neptune shouted as she cleaved the desk in two, sending the two halves skidding across the floor.

"Stop destroying my office!"

"You sure like to worry about the littlest of things, Noire," Neptune said over her shoulder as she raced across the room. She saw an overhanging chandelier and a plan quickly developed in her mind. "Chance!" she shouted as she leapt into the air and grabbed onto the low lying chandelier. Surely she'd be safe enough up here from the rampaging Noire. She was easily out of reach of Noire's arms.

"Grr!" Noire growled angrily as she summoned a witches broom from her inventory.

"Whoa! Why do you have that?" Neptune asked nervously as she eyed the witch's broom, it easily extended Noire's reach far enough for her to reach the dangling goddess. "you gonna cast a curse on me or something?"

"To whack annoying flies!" Noire snapped at her fellow CPU and began to poke Neptune in the rear, hoping to dislodge her from the chandelier.

IF rubbed her temples as she tried to fight a headache that was beginning to build, "Didn't you come here to ask Noire something?" she asked in a pained voice, hoping to rein in the crazy that was starting to permeate the room. She had absolutely no idea how the situation managed to devolve into this: Neptune hanging from one of the many chandeliers like a piñata while Noire was below her with a broom trying to knock her down.

"Oh! I completely forgot!" Neptune said in surprise, and in her surprise she forgot to hold onto the chandelier.

"WAH!" Noire cried out as Neptune tumbled from the chandelier, she hadn't expected her to let go so suddenly, she didn't have any time to prepare.

"Whoa!" Neptune shouted as she and Noire tumbled down to the floor in a tangle of limbs. When the dust cloud cleared Noire was sprawled out face first on the ground and Neptune was sitting on her back. "Why didn't you move Noire?"

There was a muffled response from the CPU of Lastation.

"At least it's not me this time…" IF said with relief. Perhaps that reward was actually starting to kick in now? She could only hope.

Blanc looked on in relief, the crazy had ended and she had escaped unscathed. Miracles did happen from time to time. She still wasn't going to go over there and help Noire up from beneath Neptune, the crazy could easily start up at a moment's notice again.

"What was that?" Neptune asked the dark haired woman.

"GET OFF ME!" Noire shouted as she pushed herself off the ground.

"Yikes!" Neptune shouted as she was thrown from Noire's back. She did a small flip in the air and landed on her feet.

"I'm not a damn chair to sit on!" Noire shouted at Neptune as she pointed her finger angrily at the smiling purple-haired girl.

"You are very comfortable," Neptune said with a smile on her face.

"Grrr!"

"Nep..."

"Oh right, Iffy reminded me why I came here," Neptune said as she scratched the back of her head with a sheepish look on her face. "Want to come with us? We all bought new bathing suits and everything, it's gonna be fun, so much better than sticking around here doing work all day."

"I…" Noire paused and turned away from Neptune. She bit her lip and struggled with herself. She wanted to go, she really did. She enjoyed being around Neptune quite a bit, she brought a life and energy that couldn't be found anywhere in Lastation. Not that she would ever even consider admitting that.

But she had so much work to do, her people depended on her…

"You can come too Blanc, and tall pig-tailed hair girl I don't know!" Neptune said as she cheerfully extended the invitation to Blanc and Mina.

"Hey! Don't go asking other people before I have had a chance to respond!" Noire protested.

"Che, if we go it won't be with you," Blanc said and turned away from the two, "we're leaving Mina, let's go." Blanc headed for the closest elevator, there were things she needed to do.

"Yes, Blanc," Mina said and turned to Noire, "do take care, Noire," she said and gave Noire a small bow along with a sympathetic smile before she turned and hurried after her CPU.

"What about my farewell?" Neptune asked in a hurt voice.

"I'm obviously better than you," Noire, her ego restored slightly due to Mina snubbing Neptune.

"So, you gonna come or are you gonna stay here all alone and stuff?" Neptune asked Noire, having already forgiven and forgotten being ignored.

Noire opened her mouth to accept but stopped. She struggled with herself, she wanted to go but she didn't have a swimsuit. No one had ever asked her to go to the beach with them and she certainly wasn't going to go by herself.

"I can't."

"Awww, why not?"

"I just can't!" Noire shouted at Neptune, "unlike you who just lazes around all day doing nothing, I actually care about my people and work hard for them every day."

"Ouch, that hurts!" Neptune said as she took a step back and held her heart in mock pain. Her smile was back an instant later however, "Well whatever, we're gonna grab a ship from Port Hole and head over to the island with the beach resort and relax on the beach all day soaking in the sun..."

A vein began to twitch on Noire's forehead. With every word Neptune said the vein grew larger and larger. It wasn't like she wanted to be stuck here all day reading documents while everyone she knew was out having fun.

"…and well, I'll be sure to take pictures and send you post cards!" Neptune said as she headed back to the balcony. "Have fun sitting in here, all alone in the dark sorting through your documents that you scattered all over the floor…"

Noire's patience snapped, "JUST GO!" she couldn't take anymore, she was going to show Neptune!

"Beach here we come!" Neptune shouted happily as she leapt over the edge of the balcony.

"USE THE DAMN ELEVATOR!" Noire shouted after her.

"SORrryyyy…" Neptune's voice faded away as she fell towards the ground.

"I think I'll take you up on that offer," IF said as she made her way towards the elevator. Climbing up was one thing, leaping off it was quite another.

"AH! NO! STAY AWAY THORNY BUSH!"

**CRASH!**

Yes, IF definitely did not want to leap off the edge of the balcony considering what was at the base of the Basilicom.

Noire waited impatiently as Falcom, Compa and IF filed into the elevator and took it down to the ground floor. The moment the three of them were gone she bolted for her desk, the right half of it anyways, and hit a small button hidden beneath the top. Thank god that it was wireless and still functional after Neptune had cleaved the desk in half.

A minute later the elevator across the room arrived. Out from inside it stepped Kei Jinguji, her Oracle. Kei was a short girl with a boyish-cut silver hair and bright aqua blue eyes. Kei was dressed as seriously as Noire tried to act. She had a formal black overcoat with white and blue trim over a white dress shirt and blue tie. She wore a pair of formal black shorts with black socks and small black shoes with blue and silver accents.

"Is there something I can do for you, Noire?" Kei asked respectfully as she stepped from the elevator.

"Yes, I need to make a business trip to an island out east. I need to make a quick stop over at Port Hole on the way but before I go I need to do a quick shopping trip to find a… appropriate attire. Since I will be gone a couple weeks I need you to handle things here while I'm away," Noire said hurriedly, her words almost spilling over one another in her haste to get them out.

"Does this have anything to do with the guests you just had?" Kei asked.

"O-Of course not, I figured I needed to get out and see the people up close to get a better feel for how things are going," Noire said as she tried to hastily cover up her reason for going.

"Of course," Kei said, not believing her for an instant. However Noire did deserve a break. She worked so hard Kei rarely had anything to do and that didn't sit well with her. Kei felt Noire should rely on others a little more. "As for attire, may I suggest Lastation's Finest? I have heard it is a very reputable store."

Lastation's Finest was Lastation's equivalence of Planeptune's Swimwear, although it did offer more than just swimwear in its selection of clothing.

"Of course! You don't need to tell me that, I was headed there anyways," Noire said as she turned around and headed for the elevator that Kei had just come up.

Kei smiled at Noire's attitude, her Goddess always did have a hard time being honest with herself, "Please take your time, Noire, everything will be fine here for a little while. Uni and I can take care of any administrative work while you're gone."

"Thank you," Noire said as the door to the elevator closed. She had to hurry if she wanted to get a new bathing… erm… proper clothing for her destination. She was most certainly not going because she was lonely and wanted to spend time with Neptune and the others, no, she was going because she needed to keep an eye on her competition, that was all there was to it.

Having Kei and Uni taking care of things back home while she was gone was comforting however. Uni was almost as diligent and careful as Kei. Noire even cared about her a little, just a little though. Almost like a little sister but not quite, she wasn't willing to go that far.

Not that she would ever say that of course, she had to keep up appearances. Being a Goddess was hard, she had to make sure her image was absolutely perfect in all regards.

**x~X~x**

**A few days later…**

Neptune smiled as she gazed out onto the ocean. A strong breeze blew in off the coast, blowing her hair back and bringing with it the scent of the ocean. Behind her stretched a seemingly endless plain filled with vibrant green grass and gentle rolling hills. And in front of her, just a few feet away, was an enormous escarpment that went straight down to the coast line, one that was filled with nasty looking jagged rocks.

"This is a nice view, I like it," Neptune said as she stared into the distance. She could dimly make out an island in the distance, it was probably their destination. "But I have to ask… where is Port Hole?"

Because as picturesque as the place was, Neptune saw absolutely nothing that hinted that there was a port city here.

"I'm not sure," IF said as she looked at the overlay map she had brought up in front of her. "According to this map we should be there."

"Maybe they got up and moved?" Compa suggested helpfully.

"An entire city?" Besides according to the map the city WAS here, they just couldn't see it for some odd reason.

"Perhaps they're hidden behind a stealth barrier, you know like Dungeon XYZ we went to a few months ago," Falcom suggested.

"Hmm, maybe," IF said as she turned off the overlay map and looked around for anything suspicious. It was certainly possible, but she wasn't aware that Lastation had that level of technology.

Had this been Leanbox or Planeptune, that'd be a very plausible excuse. Both zones had secret rooms, dungeons, and even cities, that were hidden from view. All of them were hunting areas though, it was strange for an entire city full of NPC's to be hidden from view.

"I thought as much," a familiar voice said from behind them.

Neptune's face lit up, she recognized that voice, "Noire, you came!" she said happily as she whirled around to face the black haired goddess.

"O-Of course, I can't have a foreign CPU walking around my lands without supervision, who knows what kind you sneaky things you'll get up to while you're here," Noire said as she looked away, slightly embarrassed by how happy Neptune was to see her.

"Are you going to follow us all the way to the beach resort?" Neptune asked as she ran up to Noire and hugged her from the side.

"W-Well, someone needs to make sure you aren't planning anything. This is for the good of Lastation."

"Did you bring a bathing suit?" Neptune asked as her hands dove in Noire's inventory.

"Hey! Neptune, stop that, get your hands out of me."

"Oh, you have some nice things in here."

"Hey wait, no, don't touch that."

"Why do you have this in here?" Neptune asked as she pulled out a long pink item from Noire's inventory.

"Give me that!" Noire shouted as she snatched it from Neptune's hands. A small switch on the base of it triggered as she did so and the entire thing started to vibrate.

Noire's face went a brilliant crimson as she hurriedly stuffed the object back into her inventory.

"That's so cool, I want one of those," Neptune said as she shoved her hands back inside Noire's inventory, "What else do you have in here? Got any spares?"

"Gah! Stop!"

"OH! Here it is!" Neptune cried out victoriously as she pulled a bikini out from within Noire's inventory. It was a simple navy blue two-piece string bikini.

"Stop taking things from my inventory!" Noire shouted indignantly as she snatched the bikini from Neptune's hands and shoved it back into her inventory.

"Mine's nicer."

"It's not the bikini that matters, but the body that wears it," Noire argued as she thrust her chest out. When it came to one's shapely figure there was no way she'd lose to Neptune.

"I hate to interrupt your lovers quarrel, but do you know where Port Hole is?" IF asked Noire as she tried to bring the level of crazy down to normal.

Noire looked over at IF and smirked, "Figures none of you would be able to find it." Port Hole was a special Port, if you didn't know how to get there, there was no way to get there.

It sounded like pretty obvious thing but it wasn't upon closer inspection.

"Port Hole is—"

"What is this Noire?" Neptune asked as she pulled a weird bottle of medicine from her inventory.

"Gah!" Noire's shouted in surprise, she knew what it was, but it wasn't hers. Who put that in her inventory? "Would you stop going through my stuff?" she shouted angrily as she snatched the bottle of Neptune and hurriedly threw it off into the horizon.

"Awwww, what was that anyways?"

"They were contraceptives," IF said as a sweat drop slowly made its way down the back of her neck.

"They weren't mine!" Noire protested hastily.

"Why would you need contraceptives? I know we're going to a beach but are you expecting to get knocked up while you're there?" Neptune asked shamelessly. She wasn't going to judge Noire if she wanted to, she was just curious. If Noire wanted to go X-Rated that was fine with her, they were going to R-18 Island.

"THEY'RE NOT MINE!"

"It's alright Noire, I understand, even I get that itch from time to time," Compa said in an understanding voice, "I use a thick pink thing with a picture of Iffy on it to scratch it."

Silence deafened the area as everyone stared at Compa like she had just grown a second head.

"So will Compa be popping out little baby Iffys soon?" Neptune asked eagerly.

Noire gaped at Neptune, "How can you be so… so… ARGH!"

"That's not how babies are made Nep-Nep," Compa said as she looked over at IF and gave her a happy smile. "Babies require a mommy and a daddy."

"Noire, Port Hole, quickly, please," IF begged the black-haired goddess as she slowly backed away from the group.

"R-Right, it's over here," Noire said as she too backed away and made for the secret entrance.

The entrance was a small circular shaped door that looked as if it was just randomly placed in the middle of the large grassy plains. If you didn't know what to look for, or where, it would be impossible to find it. It was no wonder the four of them had been clueless.

Noire quickly opened the door to reveal a chute that angled downwards towards sea level.

"We're gonna leave you behind if..." IF stopped as she realized it may actually be best if they were left behind. "Actually never mind." IF quickly jumped into the hole.

Noire was quick to follow.

"Hey! Wait for us!" Neptune cried out as she raced for the entrance and jumped in after the two.

"This looks like fun!" Compa said as she followed.

"I wonder if it's too late to back out…" Falcom muttered as she hesitantly made her way to the secret entrance. "I suppose I better back IF up."

Taking a deep breath Falcom jumped into the hole.

The door closed softly behind them.

**~o~**

The tunnel down to Port Hole was designed like a particular accelerator. Gravity fields kept anyone travelling through it centered in the middle of the tube so that they didn't bang against the metallic walls when there was a bend. The tunnel twisted and turned many times as it wound its way into the earth. Whether this was to avoid dense patches of rock and earth or because the creator was a little twisted no one knew.

Regardless Neptune was having the time of her life as she sped down the relatively short tunnel. Despite all the bends and turns it only took about thirty seconds to reach the bottom on average. For Neptune it was quicker as she tucked her limbs in and made herself as aerodynamic as possible.

"WATCH OUT BELOW!" Neptune shouted as she saw light at the end of the tunnel.

Neptune shot out of the tunnel like a bullet, ripping through the force fields designed to slow you down at the end as if they weren't even there. She didn't even have time to register that someone was in front of her before she crashed into them.

"Kyah!" Noire screamed in surprise as Neptune plowed into her from behind. The two of them went tumbling across the ground.

"Wow, that was awesome, I wanna do it again!" Neptune said as she sat up and looked around.

They were in Port Hole now, specifically on a raise platform that overlooked the city. It was one of many that floated above the city, there were many entrances like the one they had taken. It was no wonder they hadn't been able to find it, the entire place was underground. The city formed a half moon around a large underground lake. The lake was fed by a large opening in the cavern that led out into the eastern ocean.

Despite the obviously incredibly technologically advanced entry way, the city itself had an industrial theme about it, very similar to that of Lastation. There were multiple levels to the city, the upper most level, directly below the landing pads, seemed devoted to the rich and the powerful that lived in the city. Large sprawling mansions, important looking structures and wide, elegant boulevards made up most of that level.

The second level appeared to be dedicated to the rest of the individuals that lived in the city. The middle class were all clustered in the middle of the second level while the poor and destitute were walled off on either side.

The last level was at sea level, this level was dedicated to everything else. The marketplaces, bars, taverns, warehouses, and other assortment of both savory and unsavory activities were located. The docks were here as well, and an assortment of ship could be seen there moored. Even more could be seen both coming and going through the large opening in the cavern wall.

Each level was separated from the other by a series of elevators that required a key card to grant you access, although the poor didn't even have that, they had to walk up the side of the plateau.

Neptune brought her attention back to the platform she was on. IF was there, staring at her with a deadpanned expression on her face. Compa was picking herself up from the ground and she could see Falcom arriving from the chute.

But she couldn't see Noire anywhere.

"Where's Noire?"

A large sweat drop rolled down the side of IF's head as she pointed beneath her.

Neptune glanced down.

"What are you doing down there Noire?" Neptune asked in confusion, "the floor's pretty dirty you know."

A large vein began to throb painfully on the side of Noire's head.

"GET OFF ME!" Noire shouted as she pushed off the ground, throwing Neptune off her back. "What is with you always sitting on me?!" This was the second time that Neptune had ended up sitting on her while she was face planted into the ground.

"What are you talking about?" Neptune asked curiously, "You're the one always running into me."

"WHAT? But… I…" Noire was livid as she pointed a shaking finger at Neptune, "YOU HIT ME!"

"Of course not!" Neptune protested indignantly, "I crashed into a nice soft cushion and when it was—"

"THAT WAS ME!"

"Oh, hehe, whoops, sorry?" Neptune asked apologetically. "Please don't be mad!" the purple-haired CPU asked as she latched onto Noire and hugged her tightly.

"Stop groping me!" Noire exclaimed as she tried to shake Neptune off her.

"Let's get to the port before this gets any crazier," IF said as she hurried over to a small raised console and quickly typed in a few commands. The landing pad jolted as it dislodged itself from its spot on the wall and began to make its way down to the port. A fresh landing pad formed where theirs had been.

"I think it's nice how well Nep-Nep and Noire get along," Compa said with a smile on her face.

"What part of this looks like we're getting along?" Noire demanded as she tried to pry Neptune's sticky fingers off her breasts which were trying to find their way under her dress.

"Which ship are we taking to the island?" Falcom asked as she walked up beside IF. The platform was rapidly approaching the docks on the lower level.

That was a good question, there were many ships moored at the docks. While some of the more obvious looking pirate ships were certainly bad choices, there were other more luxurious looking ships that looked like they carried passengers as cargo more often than not. However IF wasn't very ship savvy, she couldn't tell a good one from a bad one.

But IF had an idea that would help narrow the selection down, "What one do you suggest?" she asked Falcom.

"I like that one," Falcom said as she pointed at a luxurious cruise liner.

"Great, we'll go with this one then," IF said as she pointed at the ship beside it. "Sorry Falcom, but your choice in ships is suspect at best, they usually end up sinking."

"That's not very nice Iffy," Compa chastised her friend after seeing the crestfallen look on Falcom's face.

"Sorry, but I don't feel like swimming BEFORE we get to the beach."

"About that…" Falcom said hesitantly, glancing nervously down at their platform. The platform was currently swinging around over the water as it headed to the port authorities, what's more it wasn't looking too good, "Isn't this supposed to dissolve AFTER we arrive at the lower level?" She asked as she stamped on the rapidly dissolving platform for emphasis.

That immediately drew everyone's attention to the platform they were all on.

"I know you're excited and all to swim Iffy, but couldn't you have waited until we got there first?" Neptune asked as she rushed up to the brunette.

"I have nothing to do with this!" IF protested as she looked over the console screen. Whatever was going on, wasn't supposed to happen; warning lights were flashing all across it. "What the hell is wrong with this thing?" IF asked in bewilderment, her hands flashing over the console as she tried to halt the dissolving process.

"Could you, ya know, fix it a little quicker?" Neptune asked as she eyed the edges of the platform, they were already beginning to dissolve into pixels.

"What do you think I'm trying to do?"

Noire shoved IF away from the console, "Let me see that," she said as she took over. Her hands flashed across the console like lightning.

"We seem to have stopped moving, that can't be good," Falcom said as she glanced around nervously. They were still several hundred feet above the water.

"Damn it Falcom," IF shouted at her friend.

"Hey! We're not even on a ship yet, this isn't me this time!"

"Someone's hacked into Port Hole securities," Noire said with a hint of panic and more than a little shock in her voice, "my commands are being overridden by the master control! There's a virus in the system."

"I thought no one could hack into your security systems…" IF said in confusion. Noire had boasted that Lastation had the best security in Gamindustri, and it wasn't an empty boast either. She had held a contest with the best hackers and crackers in the world and had them hammer away at her systems for a week straight. All the loopholes and security flaws they had found were fixed and patched. The security system was absolutely flawless, or at least it should be. And as Port Hole was under Lastation's jurisdiction they benefited from the same level of security.

"I don't know!" Noire said as pounded on the console system in frustration. There was nothing she could do from this end. It was only a dumb terminal and had no real processing capability by itself.

"Those are some pretty big fish down there…" Neptune said worriedly as she looked down through the transparent floor at the large dark shapes that were swimming beneath the ships in the harbor.

Noire glanced down and did a double take, some of those dark shapes were larger than the ships, "That's not possible! There's a firewall at the gateway! It's separate from the security system, it shouldn't be affected by this!"

"What firewall?" Compa asked as she looked around curiously. She couldn't see anything that looked like a giant wall of fire.

Noire pointed at the gateway between Port Hole and the eastern ocean, "Right over…" she trailed off as she realized the firewall was down.

"Over where?" Neptune asked as she followed Noire's finger into the distance. She couldn't see anything that looked like a firewall.

"The firewall is down," IF noted as she stared at the gateway.

"How can this be?!" Noire cried out in disbelief.

The platform began to crack and splinter.

IF let out a resigned sigh, "why me?" she asked no in particular. Why did things like this always happen to her?

The platform exploded into pixels that quickly disappeared into thin air, leaving the five girls with nothing but air under their feet.

"Ah, nothing like falling through the sky to start off an adventure," Neptune said with a carefree smile on her face.

"How can you be so calm about this?!" Noire shouted at Neptune.

"Well, doesn't most of my stories start out like this? I mean it happens so often it's almost mandatory or whatever."

"Don't include US in your ridiculous situations!" Noire snapped back irritably.

"Save your breath, Noire, you're going to need it when we hit the water," IF said as she twisted in the air and got into a comfortable position, waiting for the inevitable splash down. In a sense she was starting to grow numb to all these shenanigans.

"We can try out our new bathing suits here, Iffy!" Compa said happily as she swam in the air towards IF. She had already changed out of her normal clothes and was in her bathing suit.

"I'm not so sure that's a smart idea…" IF said as she eyed the water that was rapidly rushing up to meet them.

"Those fish are like seriously huge," Neptune said as she eyed one of the dark shapes under her.

"And they're not alone," Falcom added as she pointed to the shoreline. There were hundreds of smaller enemies climbing out of the water to attack the Port. The security detail was putting up a valiant fight but as they were only useless NPC fodder they were falling quickly.

"Uh, did we just get, like, dropped into a serious plot development or something?" Neptune asked as she looked at Noire.

"How the hell would I know?"

"Well it is your city."

"That doesn't mean I know everything!"

"But I thought that was Lastation's slogan…"

"W-Well I mean I DO know everything, I just don't want to spoil it for anyone."

"Uh Nep…" IF started nervously.

"Iffy, trying to have a serious convo here with Noire."

"You may want to get out your sword…"

"What why?" Neptune asked.

IF pointed down.

Neptune glanced down. The dark shape in the water had launched itself out of the water towards her, it was a massive sea serpent, its jaws open wide to swallow Neptune whole. "HOLY COW!" she screamed and started flailing her arms wildly, "Stay away! Back back back back!"

**GULP!**

With a single bite the sea serpent swallowed Neptune whole.

"NEPTUNE!"

**~o~**

"Wow, this is a first for me," Neptune said as she commented on her unique situation, "I don't think I've ever been eaten before."

"It's pretty dark in here though, you know. Couldn't there have been some lights or something? Maybe even some of those cool phosphorescent spores or moss or whatever." She looked from side to side, it was completely pitch black, she couldn't see anything, which made all the icky things in here that much worse.

She struggled fruitlessly inside the bowels of the sea monster. Her arms and legs were bound tightly by something she couldn't see. At least she wasn't sinking, it felt like she was floating on top of water or something.

"I am so totally tied up by tentacles, we're not even at R-18 yet and this has all the flags of a bad hentai set! I wonder if this is what it feels like to be the M…" Neptune asked no one in particular as she struggled some more.

Whatever it was binding her, bound her tightly. It was also very wet and sticky. She could feel it on her bare skin.

Wait…

"Whoa, my clothes are melting!" Neptune shouted in surprise, "what's going on?"

"Wait, I can figure this out, first I was falling, then a giant sea monster ate me, and now I'm in his stomach…"

Neptune eyes went wide and she started to sweat bullets.

"Uh… am I being dissolved? That's bad right? Like seriously bad news?"

Neptune began to struggle in earnest to break free from whatever was binding her. Unfortunately whatever it was, it was too strong for her to break free at her current level.

"I can't transform like this… not good… Uh, Noire, Iffy, a rescue any time now would be really helpful and stuff!" Neptune shouted hoping one of her friends could hear her through the two feet of flesh and scale.

Something bumped into her from below.

"Whoa! What was that?"

There was another bump.

"I don't think I'm alone in here… Iffy, Compa, Noire, Commy… help!"

Something latched on to her butt cheek.

"AH! Stop that! That tickles!"

Another one latched onto her thigh, then her calf, followed by the small of her back and then her shoulder.

"My danger senses are tingling! I suddenly have a very bad feeling about this… I wonder if I'm related to spider man or something."

Something wrapped around her body and latched onto her chest.

"AH! No! Not there!"

More things began to wrap themselves around her, latching onto various parts of her body.

"Ummm… guys… the main character could use some help right about—" Neptune was cut off as she was dragged under the liquid she had been floating on.

This was definitely not good, especially since she could feel her strength and energy being sucked away.

**~o~**

Compa and IF were on land, battling back-to-back against the invaders attacking Port Hole. The monsters were relatively low level so the two of them were having no problems taking them out, the only issue was the sheer number of them. They hadn't been able to make any real progress towards clearing out the monsters or rescuing Neptune.

Falcom was beside the ship that IF had wanted to take to R-18 Island, fighting to keep the ship safe and afloat against the swarms of monsters that were trying to board it or sink it.

Noire was out in the water battling sea serpents; since she could fly she was the only one with any hope of reaching Neptune. She was in her HDD form, Black Heart, cutting through the sea monsters with ease. Unfortunately there were simply too many of them for her to reach Neptune. Every time she cut one down, two rose to replace it.

The sea serpent that had swallowed Neptune was beating a hasty retreat through the underground lake to the exit. If it escaped out into the ocean there would be no way to rescue Neptune.

And floating high in the air above the port, completely unnoticed by all, was a mysterious figure cloaked head to foot in a black cloak. The figure was also quaking in anger at the scene below.

The mysterious figure didn't blame Neptune's friends for failing to rescue her, they were simply too weak at this current stage to do anything, despite their frantic attempts to reach her.

No, the figure blamed the one that hacked the system and caused this to happen. If the mysterious figure ever found out who it was, they'd die a very long and painful death. There was only one person Neptune belonged to, and it wasn't a stupid weak pathetic sea serpent.

This was unacceptable.

The mysterious figure hadn't wanted to get directly involved this early in the story but there was no choice. Neptune was not allowed to die, no matter the cost.

The mysterious figure held a gloved hand out to the side.

"Maleficent Lance of Annihilation!"

An enormous golden lance, almost a hundred feet in length, formed beside the figure's outstretched hands. The head of the lance was a wicked looking five pronged blade. Four blades surrounded the central point, each of the blades jutted out to the side before they angled back to the central point. Black lightning arced across its rune covered surface.

The mysterious figure's arm drew back and snapped forward in a single, fluid motion, hurling the lance at the water below.

"Burn…"

And burn it did.

The lance left an inferno in its wake as it scorched the air with its passage. The air screamed in agony as the lance shattered the sound barrier, sending powerful shockwaves through the underground cavern. It only took the lance a second to reach the water and slip through with nary a ripple.

**~o~**

For the first time in her life Neptune was actually very worried. She was completely wrapped in strange sticky tentacles that had latched onto every part of her body from the top of her head to the tips of her toes.

Beyond being seriously gross and disgusting she could feel them draining her of all her SP while the acid around her steadily ate away at her HP. Her clothes were long since gone and her skin was beginning to dissolve as well.

The worst part about it was that she couldn't breathe. Well she could, but she refused to open her mouth with that thing latched onto it. She wasn't going to give up her first kiss to a tentacle, even if it killed her.

She was tightly bound, and rapidly dying.

She couldn't help but feel the first real twinges of fear and panic begin to grip her. This wasn't a situation she could make fun about anymore. She couldn't move, she couldn't see and she couldn't breathe. This was a very real and very bad situation to be in.

Neptune squeezed her eyes tightly and began to pray, tears leaking from her eyes.

_Please, Noire, IF, someone…_

Neptune's vision was suddenly consumed by a bright golden light. Her vision swam and her ears rang as an enormous roar echoed around her, momentarily deafening her. She hung there for a brief second, suspended in air, before she realized she was falling. She didn't mind the falling part, she did that quite often, no what mattered to her was one simple fact.

She was free.

The tentacles that had bound her were no more, the liquid substance was gone, even the sense of being pressed upon by all sides by the walls of the serpent's stomach was gone.

She opened her eyes and stared up in surprise at the enormous numbers that hovered over the disappearing pixels of the sea serpent: 174,312.

Someone had come to her rescue, and shattered the 99,999 damage limit of Gamindustri in the process.

Neptune didn't care how they had done it, she was just glad she was free. She gulped back a deep breath of fresh air and realized a startling fact. She could actually breathe. She glanced around and her eyes widened even more. The attack had completely displaced the water around her.

She glanced at her SP, relief filled her, she had just enough.

Neptune activated her transformation and was instantly consumed by brilliant purple light. She slowly spun in place, her back arched and limbs splayed wide, as the transformation took hold. Her body pulsated and grew nearly twenty centimeters, her bust increased in size to a D, and her grew out to her feet, braided in two long braids. Her naked skin flashed brilliantly for a moment and she was clothed in her black and purple body suit. A set of luminescent purple wings sprouted from her back allowing her to halt her fall and hover in mid-air.

She floated there, savoring the rush of power and strength flowing through her veins. It felt nice to be in control again.

But she didn't stay stationary for long, the time for jokes was over, it was time for some pay back. With a burst of speed Neptune exploded out of the hole in the water just as it began to cascade back down, gravity taking hold and exerting its force on it once more.

Neptune took aim at the nearest serpent and flashed through the sky towards it, her long sword poised to strike.

The serpent didn't stand a chance. A single cleave was all it took as Neptune sheered straight through the monster. It exploded into a bunch of pixels and disappeared into thin air.

The Sea Serpents weren't that high of a level, lower than her even, the strongest topping out at level thirty. Had she not played around and joked about her situation she never would have ended up in the perilous position she had just been in.

Pride could allow the weak to bring down even the strongest. And that had almost happened to her. She had been afflicted by bind, paralyze, virus and poison, while she had been trapped inside that sea serpent. Her messing around and assumption that she'd always come out fine had almost gotten her killed.

A serpent near her was cleaved in half and a panicked looking Noire in her HDD transformation appeared. There was a look of profound relief on her face when she saw Neptune floating above the water alright. It was quickly covered up though, replaced by Noire's usual arrogant look when she was transformed.

"I knew you'd be alright, you sure like to make things dramatic making us wait all this time!" Noire said in a voice that could barely suppress the relief that she was feeling. She whirled in the air and cut down another serpent viciously.

"…" Neptune didn't say anything as she stabbed her blade through a large fish that had tried to attack Noire from behind.

She hadn't been waiting to make things dramatic, things had truly been life threatening there.

"Neptune?" Noire asked worriedly, her arrogant mask slipping for an instant.

"You didn't see anything strange out here did you?" Neptune asked as she ducked under a serpent that had lunged at her from the waters below. Her blade flashed upwards, cutting a crescent moon in the air, cutting the serpent in half.

"Like what?" Noire spun in place and cut down three small eels that had tried to attack her from multiple directions.

"Like something gold and glowing?"

"I did see a flash of light, but nothing more, these things are endless," Noire said as she cut down another serpent.

When she got back to Lastation she was going to create several high level quests to have the waters around her country cleared out. This was just ridiculous, there were so many monsters here you couldn't move without being swarmed by them.

"Right, well, let's clean these things up," Neptune said as her blade flashed a dozen times around her, cutting down several sea monsters that had leapt out of the water to attack her.

"Of course, you don't need to tell me that! I can't have these monster ruining the reputation of Lastation!"

"Then let's do it, together," Neptune said, suggesting a special EXE combination attack.

One could only do an EXE attack when their EXE gauge was full, it was a special stat.

The basic stats like vitality and SP could be measured and quantified. Vitality was how much damage one could take before someone died and was measured and tallied into a readable form called HP. SP was a stat based on the amount of energy or strength of will an individual still possessed. Both of these stats were measured by tiny little nano-machines that filled the air. You couldn't see or interact with them, unless they were performing a duty such as displaying damage numbers, nor did they directly interact with their surroundings, but they did record everything.

This information was then accessible by personal devices imbedded within each citizen of Gamindustri. Everyone had the device, no matter how unimportant they were, upon the moment of their creation. No one knew where the nano-machines first came from or what sort of system they imbedded in each individual so that they had the ability to see a screen that listed out all of their stats.

There were many theories however, such as the Original Goddess, the one that first created Gamindustri way back before either of the four current nations, or even their predecessors, existed, created that system along with the continent upon which Gamindustri existed.

Whatever the reason, it made monitoring one's stats easy.

However the EXE stat was special in that the machines could read it, but not quantify. The stat came into existence after the world's creation. It was a by-product of the hyper advancement of the systems in place with the current generation of Goddesses.

This EXE stat was a variable stat, one that increased with the flow of adrenaline in one's body. The amount of adrenaline that body created and pumped through it was based on the amount of damage done to, or taken from, the enemies they fought. This stat could be used on an exhausting special super move that depleted the gauge until one's adrenaline filled it up again.

And right now both Neptune and Noire had full EXE gauges.

"Heh, do you think you're strong enough to keep up with me?" Noire asked, smirking arrogantly at Neptune.

Neptune smirked back, "I've always been stronger than you."

"You've been lazing around for over a year! I don't think that's true anymore, no I know that's not true anymore!"

"Then let's do this Noire! The one that does the most damage owes the other a back massage!" Neptune shouted as she hurled herself high into the cavern, not waiting for an answer from Noire. She knew the Goddess of Lastation would accept, she'd never back down from a challenge. Neptune stopped and hovered in the air, her arms outstretched to either side.

A dozen enormous two-handed swords, each a hundred feet in length, appeared in a circle around her. Their crystalline forms glowed with a brilliant blue glow. Neptune's fists clenched as she jerked them down to her sides.

The swords followed suit.

The air howled with their passing, their brilliance bathing the cavern in a soft blue glow. All battle ceased as everyone stood still to watch the beautiful, yet deadly, spectacle unfold. The swords slammed into the water, and kept going, until they penetrated deeply into the bed below. The water erupted around them, momentarily creating twelve large, empty holes in the choppy underground lake.

The swords pulsated once before a pillar of purple light shot from the pommels of each sword, shooting up into the air and slamming into the roof of the cavern. The ground began to shake as a whirlpool formed in the very center of the cavern, dragging in all the sea monsters that had entered Port Hole.

There was no need to be concerned about collateral, any ship not moored to the docks had already been sunk long before now.

"I'm not done yet!" Neptune shouted as she held her hands out before her and conjured forth one last sword. This one easily dwarfed the others twice over in length, and four times in width. "Take this!"

Neptune disappeared, reappearing an instant later upside down above the enormous sword. Her leg lashed out and kicked the pommel of the sword, sending it screaming through the air towards the monsters below. "No one tries to eat me!" Neptune shouted as she glared down at the sea monsters.

The earth quaked violently as the sword thundered through the water and into the bed of the lake below. The water, all of it, was thrown up in a massive explosion. The shockwave from the explosion sent all the monsters in the water flying high into the air.

Hundreds of damage numbers flashed above the heads of the monsters. With Neptune's processing power she could easily tally them all up before the numbers faded away: 3,476,981.

That was going to be a hard number for Noire to beat.

However it was a challenge that Noire was more than willing to take up.

"I'm going to enjoy that back massage," Noire shouted as she blasted through the air, her form little more than a blur, even to the trained eye.

"No one is stronger than me!"

Noire disappeared, and reappeared all over the place, moving so quickly it looked as if she was in multiple places at once. Her blade flashed through the air, tearing through the sea monsters and sending powerful curved energy blasts everywhere.

She reappeared on the opposite side of the underground lake, kneeling in the air with one hand pressed against an imaginary floor and her sword stretched out to the side. Explosions of pure power rippled out from the places Noire had cut, obliterating the monsters and filling the air with countless pixels.

Like with Neptune numerous damage numbers flashed in the air above the disappearing monsters.

Noire quickly tallied up the count and smirked.

3,476,982.

"Looks like it's my win Neptune!" Noire shouted up at her friend with a victorious grin on her face.

"One damage!? I refuse to admit that I lost!" Neptune cried out in indignation. That was just not fair, it was like someone had deliberately forced her to lose by such a small margin just to irk her. If she ever got her hands on the one writing this story she was going to strangle him or her, or whatever it was.

"Don't be such a poor loser Neptune, one or a million, more is still more." Noire felt that Neptune should feel grateful for being allowed to touch 'her' perfect body. Everyone wanted to get their hands on her. She topped all the popularity polls after all.

Neptune sighed and covered her eyes with her hand. It wasn't that Neptune had any qualms about giving Noire a massage, heck she'd enjoy it almost as much as Noire would. No, Noire was simply going to be insufferable after this victory of hers.

But Noire had a point, better to accept ones fate with grace and poise then rail against it like a child. She already did enough of that as it was. Besides, she knew how to rectify this situation so that she came out on top.

Uncovering her eyes she glanced down at Noire and nodded her head ever so slightly, "Alright, I will concede you did 'one' more damage than me," Neptune said as she 'graciously' accepted her defeat, "it's probably better this way anyways, my massages are far better than yours after all."

"Oh no they're not!" Noire shot back, offended by the statement. Her hands were the finest in Gamindustri, everyone said so, so hers were better than Neptune's by default.

"Just stating fact," Neptune said as she turned and flew over to where Falcom and the others were gathering.

Compa and IF had gathered at the ship beside Falcom, the monsters on land were all defeated, there hadn't been much left after Neptune and Noire had destroyed them in their combination attack. What's more the firewall was back up and in full force. There was considerable damage to most of the docks and parts of the lower level but for the most part Port Hole had escaped unscathed. Most of the damage had been done to the ships that had been sunk during the attack.

"You're just stating 'your' facts!" Noire protested as she quickly flew over beside her purple-haired friend. "I am much better at giving massages than you."

Neptune bit back a smirk. Noire was predictable if nothing else. In her HDD form she was extremely competitive, especially when being compared to her. Noire could brush off comparisons with Vert and Blanc, but she never let lie anything that compared Neptune to herself.

"Talk is cheap," Neptune said as she reached the pier where Neptune, IF and Compa were and floated to the ground.

"Fine! I'll prove that I'm better than you," Noire said as she landed beside Neptune. "I'll have you begging for more after I'm finished."

"It's a deal," Neptune said with a self-satisfied smile. "I'll give you a massage and then you'll give me one."

"Yes, and I'll…" Noire stopped as she realized what had just happened, "hey wait a minute! You tricked me!"

Neptune glowed and her body began to shrink as she undid her transformation and reverted back into her more comfortable form, "You'll keep your word, right Noire?" Neptune asked in a teasing voice.

A bright light engulfed Noire as she undid her transformation, reverting back to her normal form, "Of course! I never go back on my word, even if I'm tricked into it," Noire said as she sniffed proudly.

"That's not always a good thing," Neptune said with a hesitant smile on her face. After a moment the smile became full blown, "ah who cares! I get a free massage! WOO!"

"Ah… Neptune…" Falcom started hesitantly.

"What is it Commy?" Neptune asked as she whirled around to face the adventuress. "Where's IF?" she asked suddenly as she noticed that IF was gone, only Compa stood beside Falcom.

"IF is on the ship dealing with the Captain," Compa said brightly as she fished through her inventory for a set of clothing, "she boarded the ship muttering 'someone else can deal with Nep'."

"Huh?"

"Umm, Neptune, your clothes…" Falcom trailed off as she pointed at Neptune's clothing.

Neptune glanced down at herself in confusion. The confusion quickly gave way to understanding. She was completely naked, all she had on were her socks, although they didn't go past her ankles anymore, "Oh don't worry about that, they dissolved inside that sea monster, no biggie."

"Nep-Nep, a girl like you shouldn't be walking around like that," Compa said as she held out some clothes to Neptune, they weren't anything fancy, just a pair of pants and a small T-Shirt, although on Neptune it would seem oversized. "What if there are perverts roaming around wanting to take a picture of you?"

A camera flash went off in the distance.

There was a bright flash of light beside Neptune which was quickly followed by a sonic boom.

"Ah its fine, I'm sure there are some loli lovers out there enjoying this," Neptune said as she boldly thrust her naked chest out.

Another camera flash went off.

"Nep-Nep…" Compa warned her friend, her expression darkening ever so slightly.

There was an explosion in the distance followed by a howl of pain. The sound of smashing electronics echoed clear as day across the Port.

"Ah! Right! Clothes!" Neptune said as she hurriedly snagged the clothes from Compa and jumped away, hurriedly climbing into them as fast as she could.

There was a rush of wind and another flash of light.

"Oh! I never noticed you transform, what's up Noire?" Neptune asked curiously, now fully dressed.

Noire ignored her question as she stomped towards Neptune, "Damn perverts…" she muttered in annoyance as she grabbed a now dressed Neptune and started to drag her to the boat.

"What's wrong?" Neptune asked in confusion.

"We're leaving!" Noire said as she walked up the gangplank and threw Neptune over the side onto the deck.

Compa and Falcom quickly hurried after the two, not wanting to be left behind. The moment the two boarded the ship the random NPC sailors tossed away the mooring lines and the captain steered the ship out into the underground lake, through the firewall and out into the open sea.

It wasn't until they finally got there that Noire realized something. She didn't actually know where they were going.

"So, what island are we heading to?" Noire asked cautiously, realizing that perhaps she should have clarified this before coming along. There were a lot of islands out here, some less savory than others, and knowing Neptune one couldn't count anything out.

"We're headed to R-18 Island!" Neptune said cheerfully.

"Ah, I see," Noire said with a slight nod of her head. At least it wasn't one of those random dungeon islands. It was only an island for… for…

"WAIT WHAT!?"

**~o~**

"Whew, that was close," Random NPC 60173 said as he sat at the edge of the escarpment overlooking the eastern ocean. He could see Neptune's ship disappearing into the horizon as it headed for its destination.

In his hands was a camera, the same one he had used to capture that singular perfect image of Neptune in a bathing suit in her HDD. He had gotten that developed and blown up into a full sized poster already.

He tilted the camera to get a good look at the screen on the back. In it was another amazing photo shot of Neptune, this time it had her posing in the nude. Unfortunately due to his angle he had only managed to get her backside, still, it was a nice shot. It wasn't Neptune under her HDD transformation, that was the 'real' money shot, but it would do for now.

He was just glad there had been perverts there taking snapshots of his Neptune otherwise Noire probably would have killed him. There hadn't been very much left of that Random NPC 107831 after Noire was finished with him.

Of course 'he' wasn't a pervert, after all he was allowed to take pictures of Neptune. Well, at least that's what the voice in his head said anyways, and who was he to ignore such sound and logical advice?

"I really want to follow Neptune, but I'm not quite sure how to get there," Random NPC 60173 said mournfully. He knew their destination; it was easy to figure out based on the trajectory of the ship. The problems revolved around all the other logistical aspects, such as securing a mode of transportation. "I'd love to get some shots of her covered with nothing but light beams."

There was also the probability of being discovered. Only people with descriptions were allowed past the checkpoint and his presence would most certainly cause a stir. Plus Noire would definitely be on the lookout for perverts now and he wasn't sure he should risk it. He'd liked keeping his limbs intact and attached to his body. He knew from experience just how hard it was to move around after someone has ripped your limbs from your body and used them to beat you senseless.

It was pretty painful too.

Random NPC 60173 frowned in annoyance. Since when has the potential for pain and suffering ever stopped him from going after his Neptune in the past?

Never! That's when!

Except that one time when he had been eaten, being eaten made many things more difficult to do.

But never mind that, he WOULD find a way to that island! Even if he had to swim!

Which he probably would, and if he wanted to get there before she left he should probably start now.

"Wait for me Neptuneeeeeee!" the random NPC shouted as he jumped off the cliff.

There was a large sea serpent waiting for him below.

"Ah crap, this is gonna hurt… again…"

**x~X~x**

A small grey mouse with two white whiskers, large red eyes, a large bulbous black heart shaped tail with pair of red demon wings sprouting from his back, entered the secret room of the secret base hidden in the secret valley that no one knew about.

Well, save for those gathered here and a select few others that were randomly distributed throughout the world in places that were convenient for the heroes to find and dispatch when they ultimately became curious about all the happenings going on behind the scenes.

"Why do I have to do all the damn grunt work, chuu," the small mouse complained as he waddled up to the oversized table specifically designed to be too high for him to see over, or even jump up onto.

"Stop complaining you damn rat, that's all you're good for," A pale faced, middle aged lady with purple hair wearing a gothic clown costume that was way too skimpy and revealing for someone of her age, snapped.

The mouse pulled out a small makeshift ladder and rested it against the edge of the table before making his way up it.

"At least I'm not a pasty faced hag that's incapable of doing anything," the 'rat' snapped back irritably.

"Pirachu, Arfoire, enough of your boring lovers quarrel," a mysterious shadowy figure said from across the table. "I did—"

"I'm not that bitch's/rat's lover!" the two of them shouted at the same time, pointing at one another.

"I don't care, you will shut up, your bickering bores me," the mysterious figure said.

A vein began to throb on Arfoire's head. She fixed a glare on the mysterious figure, "Don't tell me to—"

An enormous amount of pressure slammed into Arfoire, flattening the villain into the back of her seat. Pirachu wisely kept quiet and didn't come to the rescue of his fellow evil in arms. A loveable mascot he may be but that didn't mean he wanted to suffer the fate that CopyPaste had.

Arfoire hadn't been here for that, she didn't know what their mysterious benefactor could do, was willing to do. CopyPaste was loud and didn't know how to shut up. Well he couldn't talk anymore, or do much of anything for that matter. Pirachu wasn't even sure he could find what was left of him without a magnifying glass.

And he didn't even want to remember what had happened to willful, spoiled child that was Abnes. Her fate still gave him nightmares to this day. Pirachu almost felt sorry for the CPUs when his mysterious boss finally got around to dealing with them.

After what seemed an eternity the pressure finally disappeared, letting everyone in the room breathe a little easier.

"That's better," the mysterious figure said as it sat back in its chair and glanced around the table at those assembled there. He held their eyes for a brief moment, making sure they fully understood that _he_ was in charge. Satisfied with what he saw he turned his attention back to the smallest member of their group.

And oddly enough, aside from that eccentric freak, the most useful of the bunch.

"Did you do what I asked?"

"Yes mysterious leader person," Pirachu said. None of them knew who the individual actually was, just that he was immensely powerful. Pirachu had gotten a small glimpse at his level a while back, it was triple digits. As far as Pirachu knew, no one else in Gamindustri could match him level wise. The small mouse hopped up onto the table and took a seat. "Your spyware has been installed into Port Hole's security systems. It has already begun to propagate throughout Lastation's systems."

"Good, with that the only systems left to infiltrate are Planeptune's boring systems."

"I can't help you there, chuu," Pirachu said as he played with his tail, "Planeptune's systems are tied up with their Oracle, Histoire, can't do anything to something that floats higher than I can jump."

The mysterious figure stared at Pirachu for a brief moment as if trying to determine whether or not he should flay the rat for showing even a modicum of defiance. Ultimately though he decided not to do anything, Pirachu was partially right and he had been useful unlike most of the others.

He'd cook the rat at a later date after his uses were used up. He already had a recipe picked out.

The mysterious figure turned to the large screen on the right wall, displayed there was a static image of a dark outlined figure with large shoulder pads and a pointy head. "You did good work boring through Lastation's systems for Pirachu, can I count on you to do the same for Planeptune's?"

"Mmm, nope, I only care about my dear lovely Noire," the shadowy figure said as it hugged itself tightly. Oh it still remembered the delightful look on her face when Planeptune's Goddess had got eaten. The static covered figure had literally vibrated with pleasure. "I know nothing about Planeptune, you're on your own," the static covered figure said in an effeminate voice.

"Then leave, you bore me," The mysterious figure said as he waved away the static covered image. The static image disappeared. The mysterious figure would have liked to have destroyed that annoying fool but he was as cautious as he himself was. No one actually knew where he was at any given time, and he frequently moved. That person was an expert hacker, and the only one in Gamindustri that could rival himself.

He pushed that nuisance from his mind, that man could be dealt with later, and turned his thoughts back to the tasks at hand. Planeptune's systems were different than the other three nations, which was why he had deliberately left it to last. With his spyware running rampant through the other three nations there was little he didn't know.

Most of Planeptune's information was available publicly anyways, so he had access to that despite not having any inside software. It irked him that he didn't have everything however, everything inside the Basilicom was cut off from him, that needed to be rectified.

He'd have to make plans for that eventually, but not right now. Doing something about Planeptune's systems could wait awhile. There was still much that could be done with the information he did have.

His train of thought was interrupted as the door to the meeting room opened and the sole missing individual made his way into the chamber. The man was an old, balding fat man dressed in a full grey business suit. There was a small briefcase in his left hand.

"Mr. Badd, where have you been? You better not have a boring excuse," the mysterious boss villain said, his voice rumbled low and deep, hinting at extreme levels of pain and discomfort if a suitable explanation was not given.

"Of course not, I think you will be quite pleased with me," Mr. Badd said as he walked over to his chair and sat down. He brought the briefcase up to the table and pushed it across to his employer.

"This is…" the leader of the villains trailed off as he stopped the briefcase before it slid off into his lap.

"Open it, you will be most pleased."

'He' opened the briefcase and looked inside. A wicked grin instantly crossed his stone like lips as he recognized what was sitting within. With what was in there he didn't even have to hack into Planeptune's systems, that nation was already neutered.

"You have indeed done well, this is definitely not boring," he said as he reached inside and pulled out a glowing crystal. It pulsated with a soft, purple light.

"Yes, that is a Planeptune Sharicite specifically designed to create a CPU Candidate. I haven't been able to locate the ones for Lastation and Lowee has theirs locked up tightly inside their vault. I'm not sure one even exists for Leanbox." Mr. Badd was using his company and contacts to sweep Gamindustri, looking for those Sharicite Crystals. Planeptune had been easy to obtain. The Oracle there had already found it for him. It had been easy to bribe certain individuals managing the transportation of the item. He was the CEO of one of the largest companies in the world and commanded thousands of nameless NPC's. He, more than anyone else, was in the best position to find those crystals.

And he would do so, as long as he was paid to find them. He certainly wasn't going to look for them out of the goodness of his heart. It cost money to run a business, money he wouldn't have any more if he paid for the search out of his own pocket.

"One is enough for now, far more than I expected so soon," The shadowy figure said. He clenched his fist and shattered the crystal into a million pieces. "One down, three to go." Without that crystal, Gear could never transform into Nepgear. She had the potential, but the means were now gone. "You'll continue looking for the others?" he asked Mr. Badd.

"Of course, so long as you continue to pay me; it takes a lot of money to run a business," Mr Badd said as he rubbed his hands together greedily.

"You'll be paid."

He couldn't help but feel a slight twinge of elation as the shards of the Sharicite Crystal slowly disappeared. This was a major step forward. Still it was best to eliminate Gear eventually, just in case someone found a loophole or work-around. Plot devices had the inconvenient ability to appear at the worst of times for the villains. He would need to eliminate her and everyone else.

"I will have missions for all of you soon. There are four individuals that need to be taken care of before they can come into their own."

The CPU Candidates could not be allowed to appear. Their presence would make the overall Plan far more difficult to achieve. They had to be eliminated before they could be discovered by their respective CPUs.

The mysterious individual turned to three villains sitting together, although one of them was floating instead of sitting, "You three will head to Lowee and look for a boring pair of twins. You're in charge, CFW Magic." When the CPU Candidate's hard arisen, Nepgear had been the first, followed by the twins in Lowee. Nepgear could wait a bit now that her means of transformation was no more. "And steal the Sharicite Crystal from the vault." He'd keep an eye on Lastation himself, and move accordingly.

"Right away, boss, sir," "Fine," "Oooh! Lovely nubile young virgins, I can't wait!" The three villains quickly agreed, they didn't bother to protest the orders. Their 'boss' was more powerful than all of them combined, and by a fair margin as well. He also showed no qualms about ruthlessly crushing anyone that resisted him.

"You two," his malevolent eyes turned on Pirachu and Arfoire, "I'll have something boring for you in the near future, don't go far." He was quite certain there was a special something in Leanbox he needed to acquire. It was a low probability whether or not the CPU of Leanbox ever discovered it, but he wasn't going to take the chance.

"Grr, fine," "Right, boss," Arfoire was none to please about being ordered around, she was usually the one to give the orders, but it was hard to argue with someone that could, and would, turn you into paste without a care in the world.

"Good, now leave, you all bore me," he said as he dismissed them with a wave of his hand.

There were some grumblings from the villains as they made their way from the room but the 'boss' didn't really care. So long as they did what he told them to do, they could complain amongst themselves as much as they wanted.

Well, just so long as they weren't loud or deliberately belligerent. He wouldn't tolerate those kinds of people. When he was finished with them, he'd destroy them all. He didn't like leaving any loose ends wandering about.

After the last villain filed their way out of the room the boss leaned back in his chair and gingerly pulled out a small, round red book. He put on a pair of reading glasses he had kept tucked away in one of his hidden pockets. He opened the book to where he had last left off and began to read. It would have been a truly odd sight, had there been anyone around to see it.

Which was why he made sure there never was. He had a reputation to maintain and the book was simply too valuable not to exploit. No matter how much he gleaned from its depths, there was always more to learn, more to figure out. And if he wanted to duplicate his brother's achievement, he needed to learn it all.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Just a little clarification. Sometimes I'll use the terminology 'sent back to the compiler' or some such. There's a reason for this. Gamindustri is based around games, games are all programs on a computer. A compiler is a special piece of software that takes the code, or language, that a developer uses to create the game, and transforms it into something the computer can actually read and act upon. It's like a translator in a way. When a monster 'dies' it basically decompiles and goes back to its original state and the 'compiler' needs to reinterpret the code upon which the monster is based upon before it can respawn them. The compiler is basically the driving force behind the death/rebirth system of monsters in my story (and JUST monsters, humans are treated differently, even the random NPC's).


	4. R-18 Island

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hyperdimension Neptunia. All characters, thoughts and ideas that exist in this story that were taken from the original works belong to their creators, Compile Heart and Idea Factory. Only original thoughts and or characters created in this story are my own.**

**Chapter 4: R-18 Island**

R-18 Island was a small island a ways off the east coast of Lastation. It was a popular tourist destination for couples or those looking to just unhinge and have a good time. It had a great many attractions, from long, beautiful sandy beaches to large expensive casinos. There were water parks, bars, pubs, and a large variety of entertainment centers. If it was designed to bring a smile to your face, it could be found at R-18 Island.

Of course this also included elements such as its famous nude beaches where light beams frolicked amongst the waves with the swimmers and various 'pleasure' houses for those looking for a more intimate attraction.

As a result one needed to be considered an adult to get in. There was strict security to ensure that no children accidentally made their way onto the island.

To help facilitate that security the island had been carefully shaped and molded to be almost impregnable to those trying to get in. The island was crescent in shape, with the long arms of the island almost meeting. At the small opening was a security station that monitored all inbound traffic along with several high tech speed boats ready to chase down anyone that tried to jump overboard after getting through the check point. You couldn't land on the outer edges of the, large reefs that were perfect for snorkeling and long sand bars great for playing at, prevented ships of any size from making it to the beaches.

Anyone that tried usually ended up tearing a hole in the bottom of their ship. The few ship wrecks that dotted the coastline were testament to the folly of those that tried. Now they were part of an attraction on the island that you could explore: The Haunted Ghost Ship.

There was only one city on the island, the port city of NC-17. This was where the last checkpoint to ensure all tourists were of age before they were let onto the island. It was also the source of most of the lodging and restaurants.

The ship Neptune and the others were on passed through the checkpoint and made it to the port without incident. Neptune wisely decided to transform before reaching the checkpoint, there was absolutely no way anyone would believe she was eighteen years old with that body and all doubt would be removed the moment she opened her mouth.

R-18 Island also had a very strict dress code, and was one of the reasons why children weren't allowed on the island. You only had two options on what you could wear, swim wear or nothing at all.

There were more than a few couples walking around, arm-in-arm, wearing nothing but the skin they were born in.

Neptune and the others weren't even allowed off the ship until they were dressed in the proper attire, the rules here were quite strict and enforced quite harshly. While Neptune and the others could have easily beaten down the security bots and guards, they weren't here to start a fight.

They were here for a very different reason.

And that reason is why the five of them were traipsing through the tropical forest in nothing but their bathing suits. Thankfully the island security made sure nothing could go wrong, all the dangerous animals, reptiles and insects had been eliminated long before.

"Did anyone else notice the nervous looks we got when we arrived?" IF asked as she paused to glance back the way they had come towards the city in the distance, not that she could actually see it through all the foliage.

"I'm sure they were just awe struck by my beauty," Noire said as she brushed a hand through her long luxurious hair. She flipped it behind her where it promptly got it snagged by a tree branch. With an annoyed growl the black-haired CPU fought with the branch for possession of her hair for a brief moment before she decided just to cut the entire branch off at the base with her sword.

"We came in through the secondary entrance," Falcom murmured. She had been here before and had passed through that way on her way off the island before.

"Why wouldn't they let us in through the front entrance?" Compa asked curiously. She hadn't even noticed that they'd been redirected, but she didn't particularly care that they had, only curious as to why.

"Think it had something to do with their nervous looks?" IF asked Falcom. They had seemed really nervous for some reason, so much so that they never questioned any of them about their age. They just hurried them through without much of an inspection.

"I got a quick look at the front entrance." Falcom said as she used her fingers to adjust her bathing suit. "It looked like someone had trashed the place. The security scanner had been destroyed, the alarm ripped out, and the outer wall had been knocked clean across the street."

"I don't like customs as much as the next person but that seems a little… excessive," IF said in a dry voice. She couldn't begin to imagine what could cause someone to want to knock a wall out. It had to be a person, had it been an explosive the place would have been on lockdown while they looked for any other devices.

"I wonder who's strong enough to knock a wall down and has the temper to do it…" Noire said softly, almost as if she was talking to herself. Her eyes snapped to Neptune and a scowl crossed her face. "And just where are you taking us, Neptune?" she demanded and smacked another branch out of her way. She wasn't going to let any more branches near her hair.

She, along with everyone else, had been following Neptune through the forest and underbrush for some ways now. They had left the city a little over an hour ago and were nearing the coast.

"I'm looking for that 'special' place!" Neptune said cheerfully, her eyes darting back and forth across the forest looking for an opening that signaled the end of the trees and the arrival of her destination. She had dropped her HDD transformation after making it through customs, not that she needed to transform at all considering how quickly they had been ushered through. She very much preferred her human form over her HDD. She was wearing a different bathing suit than the one from her HDD transformation. This one was an orange strapless bikini.

"And what is this 'special' place, you keep saying that over and over. Admit it, you're just lost aren't you!"

"I am not lost!" Neptune said indignantly as she rounded on Noire. Her legs kept moving as she walked backwards, "I just don't exactly know where I am."

"That's called being lost," IF pointed out.

"No it's not! I know where I'm going. I just don't know where I am."

"That doesn't make any sense, Nep."

"Sure it-WAH!" Neptune suddenly cried out as her feet tripped on something.

The world tilted and the next thing Neptune knew she was rolling down a hill. She stopped when she hit the sandy bottom, her arms and legs splayed out in all directions. Neptune tilted her head back and looked from side to side.

"FOUND IT!" Neptune shouted cheerfully.

She wasn't the first one to find it however. The beach was filled with individuals, young and old, although the youngest was still of age of course. There was even a familiar, brown haired girl with a violent temper that looked far younger than her four hundred plus years would suggest, wearing a small, two piece, black and white vertical stripped strapless bikini.

"Hello, Neptune, Noire," Blanc said as she watched Neptune tumbled down the sandy hill out of the corner of her eye. Most of her attention was focused on the large sand castle she was in the process of building. It was a perfect, miniature replica of Hyrul Castle, complete with tiny little rooms, windows, stair cases, and flags.

"Oh, hi, Blanc! Glad you joined us but…" Neptune tilted her head on the sand, craning it so that she could see the CPU of Lowee, "why didn't you just come with us?"

Blanc slowly turned her head to stare at Neptune with a deadpanned expression on her face. "I was here first, so technically you joined me," Blanc refuted the purple-haired girl, "and secondly, I'm not taking a ship with her." To accentuate her words, she pointed up at Falcom who was making her way down the sandy hill to where Neptune was. Falcom was famous across the world for the number of ship wrecks she had been in. When taking a ship there was always the risk of sinking but with Falcom it became less a gamble and more of a sure fire thing.

There were at least fifty ship wrecks each year and ninety-five percent of them had carried Falcom as a passenger.

The last reason, which she wasn't about to admit, was that she didn't have a swimsuit at the time. There was no reason to swim in Lowee, most of the rivers and lakes were frozen since the nation was stuck in a perpetual winter. The few open streams and lakes that did exist were much too cold to swim in.

"W-W-What is this!"

Noire's shocked voice drew their attention to the black-haired goddess who was staring around the beach in wide eyed amazement and disbelief. Her cheeks were tinted bright red and her hands were held up to her cheeks as she tried to hide her embarrassment.

"You didn't know before coming here?" Blanc asked in a quiet voice, "some _perfect_ goddess you are."

"S-Shut up! Why are you even here?"

"To relax," Blanc said in her soft, quiet voice, and went back to adding the finishing touches to her masterpiece in the sand. Mina had been here with her initially but had been forced to rush home soon after they had… _cleared_ customs. An emergency had come up back in Lowee and Mina had volunteered to go back and resolve it while Blanc relaxed here.

Mina had mentioned something about Blanc working too hard lately and needed some time to herself but Blanc hadn't really been listening. She had been too busy arguing with the security guards that had accosted her after she had… rearranged the customs office.

"Grrr," Noire growled in frustration, annoyed by the fact that Blanc beat them here AND seemed to have no issue with all the naked women running around. It was like she was the only person here that seemed to find the entire situation embarrassing and she didn't like being singled out in that way.

"'This' is what we came here for," IF said dryly as she made her way down the hill that Neptune had just rolled down.

'This' was the special nude beach at R-18 Island, one of the primary reasons why no one under eighteen was allowed on the island. The entire beach was filled with naked women. Some were lounging on lawn chairs under umbrellas while others were playing volleyball against while some frolicked across the sand or in the waves.

And each and every one of them had a pair of censorship light beams covering their private parts. The beams seem to cling to their bodies tightly, no matter how much any of them moved, no matter what angle a pervert tried to get on them, nothing could be seen.

It was a male's greatest fantasy, and frustration, all bundled up tightly into a single package.

Oddly enough, there wasn't a single male on the beach to ruin that perfect, yet frustrating, male fantasy.

"A-And wh-why are they all n-naked?!" Noire demanded in embarrassment as she pointed at the nude women running around. It was difficult to force those words out and confront her own embarrassment. It wasn't that she felt she was lacking compared to the women running around here, in fact she 'obviously' had the greatest body here, it was just…

Noire didn't want to dwell on that thought any longer.

"It's a nude beach, obviously," Falcom said as she came up beside Noire. She pulled a pair of light beams out of her inventory, "I floated ashore here a few years back when my ship sank and these little guys have tagged along with me ever since.

The light beams wiggled and squirmed in Falcom's hands.

"Yahoo!"

A bright orange bikini was tossed high into the air. Neptune began streaking across the beach, covered by nothing more than a pair of light beams.

"N-Neptune!" Noire gasped in shock as she watched her 'friend' run around the beach doing cart-wheels in the buff.

"Ever since Neptune saw Falcom's light beams she's wanted some of her own, that's the whole reason we're here," IF said as she headed out across the sandy beach. She stopped and glanced back over her shoulder at the shell shocked goddess of Lastation, "sorry if you were expecting something a little more, but you know how Nep is."

"You guys should join me! This is awesome!" Neptune shouted as she ran off into water to play in the surf.

"I'm not taking my swimsuit off Nep," IF called out to the purple-haired Goddess.

"Oh come on Iffy! It's not so bad," Compa said from beside her.

IF glanced over at Compa, "What do you mean it's not-C-COMPA!" IF spluttered, aghast at what she saw.

"Wait for me Nep-Nep!" Compa called out as she raced across the sand towards Neptune. She too was covered in nothing more than a pair of light beams.

"Eh, might as well join them," Falcom said as she took her own bathing suit off and ran across the sand. Falcom's body flashed white briefly as her own personal light beams jealously fought off a new pair of light beams that tried to take their place as Falcom's personal censorship beams.

"I am SO not joining them," IF muttered adamantly, crossing her arms under her chest.

"Come join us you three!" Neptune shouted from the water. "Yikes!" Neptune shouted as she jumped back to avoid a splash of water from Compa.

"I like my swimsuit right where it is," Blanc replied quietly. She had already taken a quick swim before Neptune and the others had arrived. She was more interested in playing in the warm sand, a novelty she wasn't used to experiencing, than the water. If she wanted warm water she could always take a bath.

"You can't be serious, let's go find something else!" Noire shouted back. Take her swimsuit suit off here? In public? She'd never be able to bare the shame of it.

"I'll be at the casino if you need me," IF said as she turned around and headed back into the forest. She wasn't going to frolic naked amongst the waves like Neptune and the others, even if Compa was there.

"I-I think I'll go to," Noire said as she took a step back. She didn't want to be dragged into this situation.

"What?!" Neptune whined as she jumped out of the water and onto the sand, the sea water dripped off her naked body, dampening the sand below. "What about my massage?" Neptune asked as she ran over to them, leaving behind small wet indentations in the sand.

Noire scowled at her, "Your massage?! You're the one that owes ME a massage!" she snapped angrily. She was the one that had won the bet. Neptune owed HER a massage, not the other way around.

"Oh don't sweat the details Noire," Neptune said as she waved away Noire's concern.

"Don't just wave me away like that! I won the bet! You owe me a massage!"

"But you agreed to give me one as well," Neptune replied with a grin and patted Noire on the shoulder.

"You tricked me into that!"

"Oh don't be such a spoilsport," Neptune said as she nudged Noire over towards an empty lawn chair. The lawn chair had a soft, plush cushion on it and was shaded by a large red and white umbrella that was stuck into the sand. R-18 Island was a lush tropical paradise that never saw rain so it was safe to leave stuff like that out in the open. "I'll give you your massage and then you can give me mine."

"You better not slack off, I'm expecting only the best!" Noire said as she laid flat on her stomach across the lawn chair. She reached back and undid her top and let it fall to the side.

"No worries about that Noire! No one can tickle better than me!"

"I want a REAL massage!"

"Oh fine, you're no fun," Neptune said as she pulled a bottle of lotion out of her inventory and squirted some on her hands.

Neptune rubbed her hands together and went to work on Noire's back giving the dark haired goddess a real massage. Despite her appearance Neptune was actually quite good at giving back massages, provided one was able to actually convince her to 'give' one and not just have fun at their expense.

This was mostly due to Histoire. Neptune's small Oracle constantly suffered from backaches due to her small size. She always had to carry bundles of forms and papers, often times the stacks were larger than she was, and suffered for it as a result.

Neptune had actually offered the first time, which had come across as a huge surprise for the small Oracle. The first massage had been absolutely atrocious however, but over the centuries Neptune had gotten much better.

It wasn't too far of a stretch to say that Neptune had some of the finest hands in the world. She just tended to use them to tease and torture people with embarrassment so few rarely discovered that side of her.

Noire suddenly found herself added to that select few individuals as she realized that Neptune was actually skilled.

VERY skilled.

Noire found herself nodding off by the time Neptune made it down her back, finding the entire experience unexpectedly enjoyable.

Of course Neptune being Neptune she couldn't remain serious for very long. And by the time she had reached Noire's rear end mischief had formed in her head.

"Oh Noire…" Neptune started in a sing-song voice. She began to pour lotion across her own chest and stomach.

"What?" Noire asked sleepily. Her drowsy mind did not sense the warning signs in Neptune's voice.

"Body rub!" Neptune shouted as she leapt onto Noire's back.

Noire let out an indignant squawk as Neptune landed on her. The small goddess began to rub her body against Noire's. Her small, well-oiled breasts, rubbed up and down Noire's naked back. While Neptune attacked Noire's back with her breasts, her hands slipped around beneath her and assaulted her front.

"Wh-Wh-What are you doing Neptune!" Noire asked, completely embarrassed and surprised by the sudden turn of events.

"Body rub! This is my super-secret massage move!"

"No it's not! You're just groping my breasts!"

"Breasts need massaging too!"

"N-No they don't! Stop it!"

"But you have so much here! You shouldn't be so selfish and keep it all to yourself."

"They're mine! I don't need to share them!"

"Oh, come on, this is what best buds do, share things! We're friends right?"

"F-Friends?" Noire struggling weakened at that word. Few had ever called her friend, and none in recent years. The word made her feel warm inside and she almost stopped resisting entirely until Neptune ruined the whole moment.

"CHANCE!" Neptune shouted as she grabbed Noire's bikini top and bottom and stripped them off her. With a laugh she bolted across the sand with Noire's bathing suit trailing behind her.

"NEPTUNE!" Noire roared angrily as she jumped off the lawn chair and raced after the purple-haired goddess, streaking across the beach heedless to her nudity, although a pair of lewd censorship beams did leap at the chance to cover her private parts.

Noire grit her teeth as she sped up, she couldn't believe for a moment that she almost considered Neptune a friend. Neptune was just a small, loud-mouth, annoying, fun loving, cute, adorable, happy-go-lucky person that brightened her day and made things interesting and exciting. She wasn't a friend! She wasn't going to ever consider her a friend!

"You better move faster than that Noire if you don't want to walk back to the hotel naked!" Neptune shouted over her shoulder. She should have been paying more attention to where she was going however, as she plowed straight through a delicate looking castle that was a spitting mirror image of Hyrul Castle.

The beautiful creation that Blanc had just finished building exploded like someone had lit a thousand tons of TNT beneath it. Sand went flying in all directions as Neptune went sprawling face first into the sand. She was up a moment later though, quickly sprinting across the sand.

Blanc stared down at her ruined masterpiece, an expression of absolute shock and disbelief on her face. All those hours of effort, gone in an instant.

**BOOM!**

A shockwave rippled out from Blanc as her anger and rage peaked in an instant. The sand cratered out from around her feet and began to spiral around her in twin sand twisters, held aloft by the power of rage.

"DAMN IT NEPTUNE!" Blanc roared at the purple-haired goddess, her eyes blazing pure red. "I'M GONNA RIP YOUR FRICKIN SPLEEN OUT WITH MY BARE HANDS AND SHOVE IT DOWN YOUR THROAT!"

"Uh oh!" Neptune exclaimed as she glanced over her shoulder at the enraged CPU, "Blanc's like totally popped her top," she said worriedly as she continued to evade Noire who still couldn't catch up to the agile goddess despite her best efforts.

Noire scowled at Neptune's back and reach into her inventory, "Take this!" she shouted as she brought out a pair of handcuffs from her inventory and hurled them at Neptune.

"Whoa!" Neptune shouted as she jumped over the pair of spinning hand-cuffs. "Why do you have those?"

"Never mind that!" Noire shouted as she reached for another pair.

Blanc appeared a few feet ahead of the CPU of Lastation, "Noire! Let's double team the little bitch!" she snarled angrily and summoned a massive, two-handed, double-headed hammer from hammer space.

"Right!" Noire replied as she jumped over the small CPU.

Blanc swung the hammer with all her might. The air howled with its passing, shockwaves rippled out from behind it, leaving behind a zone of distorted air. Noire tucked her legs and planted her feet on the head of the hammer. Using it, and Blanc's enormous strength, as a springboard, Noire launched herself at Neptune.

The sound barrier shattered.

"NEPUU!" Neptune shouted in surprise as a super-sonic Noire slammed into her from behind. The two cratered into the ground and dug a trench twenty feet long in the soft sand before they finally stopped. When the sand settled down Noire was glaring down at a very sheepish and worried looking Neptune.

"I didn't know you liked being on top," Neptune said with a grin on her face, "I don't mind taking the bottom sometimes," she rubbed her pelvis against Noire's.

"Stop thrusting at me!" Noire cried out in shock and surprise as she shifted her own hips to try and get away from Neptune. It just made it worse.

"Awww, Noire is acting all shy."

"I am not! Give me those!" Noire snapped as she ripped her bathing suit from Neptune's hands and tied them back on. She climbed off Neptune and stood up, brushing off some sand that got stuck to her legs, "And stop acting like you have any experience, no one wants to touch you."

Neptune flinched a little, just a little, at that backhanded comment. That was always a sore point for her that the others sometimes rubbed in her face. The other had all gotten proposals or confessions over the years, but not her. An immature, childish neet was hardly the type of individual one wanted to have a relationship with. "Ah ha ha ha… well... you got your very own pair of light beams now…" Neptune said as she changed the subject and tried to put a 'bright' spin on the situation.

Noire reached down her bikini bottom and pulled out the wiggling light beam and tossed it away. "I don't want any perverted light beams following me around, I already have you and that's enough."

"Awww, Noire wants me to follow her around," Neptune said with a wide happy grin.

Noire blushed in embarrassment and looked away hastily, "N-No I don't, d-don't get the wrong impression, it's not like I consider you a friend or anything."

"Don't worry Noire! I'll be you friend forever," Neptune said as she leapt up off the ground and at Noire.

**BOOM!**

"BLARGH!" Neptune almost puked up her breakfast as she was cratered into the ground by a large hammer. A massive explosion of sand sent the little particles flying across the beach.

"I feel so much better," Blanc said in her normal, quiet, voice as she lifted her hammer out of the crater to reveal a very flattened Neptune twitching comically in the sand with swirly eyes. "I'm heading back to my room," she added as she sent her hammer back to hammer space and slowly made her way from the beach. Now that her castle was destroyed, her swim out of the way, and righteous justice mete, there was little left for her to enjoy here at the beach.

"Ow," Neptune said as she slowly sat up from the Neptune shaped crater in the sand. She looked around, blinking her eyes as she tried to focus on her surroundings, for some reason a whole slew of annoying stars kept blocking her vision, "where did lil' miss temper tantrum go?"

"Don't let her hear that," Noire said as she knelt down beside Neptune, "you alright?"

"Of course! I'm the main character!" Neptune said in a sing song voice, "I always survive these gag type situations. It's like in my contract or something."

"Good," Noire said as she reached into her inventory and pulled out a second pair of handcuffs.

Click.

"AH! I've been betrayed! Compa! IF! Help!" Neptune cried out in protested as she strained against the pair of handcuffs that had been clamped around her wrists. Her hands were cuffed behind her back now, there was no escaping this situation without outside help. "Noire is gonna kidnap me and take me to her home!"

"I am NOT kidnapping you!" Noire protested.

"You do have her handcuffed…" Falcom pointed out as she slowly made her way over to join the two of them. Compa was at her side looking at the pair of handcuffs with curiosity and interest.

She and Compa had been watching on the sidelines, wondering if they should get themselves involved. It seemed way more hassle than it was worth it

"T-That's because she can't keep her hands to herself!" Noire said as she tried to defend herself.

"But Nep-Nep has great hands," Compa said. She too had been on the receiving end of Neptune's massages in the past, and unlike Noire she wasn't opposed to a little skin ship. Although it did help that it had occurred in the privacy of the Basilicom and not out in the open on a beach.

"See! Compa likes my hands!"

"But your hands do wander, Nep-Nep," Compa added.

"Gah! Compa is betraying me too!"

"Let's go find IF," Falcom suggested, turning to face Compa.

"Sure!"

"No, wait! Guys, don't leave me here!"

"Have fun Nep-Nep, don't give Noire too hard a time!" Compa called out as she and Falcom made their way back into the forest. They were wearing their bathing suits again and their censorship beams were safely tucked away inside their inventories.

Neptune quickly turned away from Noire and did her best impression of an inch worm as she tried to go after her friends. "No! Wait for me!" They didn't slow down, if anything the two of them sped up and quickly left Neptune behind on the beach. "Nepuu! I have been most foully betrayed!"

An eyebrow twitched on Noire's forehead as she watched Neptune trying to inch away. She bent down and grabbed Neptune by the cuffs that held her hands together behind her back and lifted her into the air.

"I'm going to show you how much better I am! You're going to lay there and take my massage and you're going to enjoy it!"

Neptune let out a sharp gasp, "you're going to molest me!"

"How the hell did you come to THAT conclusion?"

"I'm naked and hand-cuffed? All the flags of a BDSM scene have been set."

"How is ANY of that MY fault?!"

**x~X~x**

"What's up Compa?" IF asked as she walked up to her friend who was sitting at one of the many blackjack tables in the casino.

Falcom and Compa had arrived not long after her and the three of them had just been relaxing and playing a few games since then. IF had tried her luck with the slot machines with a modicum of success. She was up slightly but not very much. She played quite conservatively, knowing how much in favor of the house many of the games were.

Falcom completely avoided the slot machines and opted to play the less luck orientated games like poker and texas hold'em. She hadn't seen her in some time which meant she was doing well. Falcom didn't have much money to lose in the first place so if she was still playing that meant she was winning.

Compa however had flittered across a large variety of games, giving them all equal attention, well aside from this table. She had been playing blackjack here for a while now and IF was slightly worried.

Especially since there was a sizeable pile of chips beside the dealer, and very little beside Compa.

"Hi Iffy! I'm just playing cards and stuff with this nice person here," Compa said with a smile as she waved her hand at the cards in front of her. IF took a quick glance at them and noted that she had a very good hand for black, a king and an ace. Since the ace could be a one or an eleven Compa had a blackjack. That was essentially an automatic win provided the house didn't draw the same.

Wait a minute…

"Compa, do you know what you have?" IF asked cautiously.

"Ahem, the young lady and I are playing right now, please try not to interrupt, outside help is not allowed at these tables," the dealer said as she intervened between the two.

The dealer was glad that someone like Compa had come around. She was a sucker that was easy to clean out. That other girl that had come around earlier, the small brown haired girl with a giant rabbit hat and an alchemist dress, had cleaned out almost all of the tables, including her own. Now the dealers were using every underhanded trick they could to make back the money they had lost.

No one had managed to figure out just _how_ that girl had managed to best them all, especially since they had been the ones to clean HER out just yesterday. Sure they may have cheated a bit, but that was to be expected, what casino didn't cheat a little?

All the cheating in the world hadn't helped them against her this time though.

But that was alright, they were making up their losses against the other customers. And the orange haired lady in front of her was completely clueless and easy to take advantage of, provided the dealer kept away anyone that actually knew how to play the game.

Like the annoyance that had just walked up.

"Yup! I have eleven, I need twenty-one right?"

"Actually, you have twenty-one, the ace can be a one OR an eleven."

"That's an automatic loss, outside help is not permitted," the dealer said as she reached for Compa's chips.

The table shook as a gleaming katar slammed into it, cutting deep into the velvet covered wood. The dealer managed to jerk her hands back just in time, if she had been a second slower she would have lost them.

"How about I tell everyone here that you've been cheating customers?" IF snapped angrily at the blackjack dealer. She knew the rules for blackjack, and she also knew that it was NOT against the rules for her to give her friend some helpful advice.

Especially when the dealer was dead set on withholding information to get a leg up on her players.

"Security!" the dealer shouted in a panic, her eyes widened in fear as she backed away from the table and IF. She stumbled a bit and nearly tripped over a chair behind her in her haste to get away.

Instantly a half dozen huge burly bouncers appeared around IF and Compa. They were giant hulking masses of muscles filled with so much testosterone they were literally sweating it out, making them shimmer in the casino lights like they were oiled up.

"You don't honestly think I'm going to let you get away with taking advantage of my friend, do you?" IF asked as she ripped her katar from the table and summoned its companion from her inventory.

Twenty seconds later IF was standing on top of a pile of bruised and beaten bouncers with a self-satisfied look on her face. IF hopped off the pile of groaning muscle and walked up to the blackjack table. Leaning over it she gave the dealer her most stern look.

"You will give Compa back all the money you cheated out of her," IF said in a deadly serious voice.

"I-It's c-company p-policy n-not t-to—."

The dealer jumped when IF slammed a fist on the table, "Is it also company policy to cheat all your customers out of their money?" IF shouted in a voice loud enough to be heard across the casino.

A murmur of discontent began to rise from the people playing at the nearby tables. They too were all experiencing an incredibly bad bout of luck and if that was due to the house cheating them…

Things could start to get rowdy real fast.

"There, there, Mr. Bouncer, let me help you get all better," IF heard Compa say from behind her. IF's eyebrow twitched but ignored her. That was just Compa being Compa.

She'd always lend a helping hand if she could.

"W-Wait, what is that?! No!" IF heard one of the bouncers cry out in horror.

IF felt a pang of sympathy for them as well. She knew what Compa style nursing entailed. You could consider yourself lucky if you simply found yourself bound tightly in enough bandages to turn you into a mummy.

Things really got scary when Compa pulled out her syringe.

"Please sit still, I don't want to put this in the wrong hole."

"NOOOOO—," the bouncer yelped in pain.

There was no doubt that taking a dose of her medicine from the syringe would definitely heal you, but considering Compa usually had it filled with poison and other deadly liquids (it was her weapon of choice even in battle) was definitely something to be concerned about.

"See, that wasn't so bad now was it, Mr. Bouncer?"

"I'm dead! She killed me! Glarbgh…"

"Oh, you're such a kidder, I made sure to remove all the acid first."

It also didn't help that the syringe was three feet in length with a needle half that length and wide enough to stick your thumb in.

The dealer now had an ashen gray look to her face as she stared at Compa in abject shock and horror. IF may have been intimidating before but seeing what Compa had just done to her bouncer had scared her witless.

"I'm melting! Argh!"

"Oh! I'm so sorry, I guess I did forget to remove the acid!"

IF blanched, she really didn't want to turn around, now she knew why the dealer looked like she was about to faint. Compa was also sort of an air-head so forgetting to replace the toxin in her weapon with medicine, or vice versa, happened on occasion.

"Let me try again!"

"Blargh Blargha BLARGH!"

"Ummm… so, about returning Compa's money?" IF asked, a bit more hesitant this time.

The dealer fainted to the ground in a heap.

"I'll take that as a 'sure, go right ahead,'" IF said as she gathered Compa's chips, both what she had left and what the house had cheated out of her.

**~o~**

"You're way too defenseless Compa," IF said in exasperation as the two of them walked side by side through the casino.

They were in the slots area heading over towards the poker tables to find Falcom. They had been here for several hours and IF wanted to leave, preferably without Compa getting cheated out of her money again. However before leaving she wanted to see how Falcom was doing. It wasn't right to just up and leave her friend here without saying anything.

"She seemed like such a nice person though, begging me to stay and play one more game, how could I say no to her?" Compa asked curiously.

"Simple, you say 'no' and move on," IF said, her eyes being drawn in the direction of loud music. Someone had just won the jackpot on the slots. She didn't think that was even possible.

"But that's so rude Iffy, she really seemed desperate, someone called Gust cleaned them all out and if she didn't make the money back she'd lose her job."

"Someone like that deserves to lose their job," IF muttered. Her head whipped to the side again as a second jackpot winner was announced.

"Wow, sounds like someone is winning a lot," Compa said excitedly as she stared in the same direction as IF, she had heard the sounds as well, "let's go have a look!"

"I guess we can go take a look," IF agreed and let Compa pull her through the slot area. It's not like they were on a time schedule or anything. There wasn't anything wrong with a little diversion on her way to Falcom. And she had to admit she was a little curious as to someone, anyone, had managed to win the jackpot on the slots.

The two of them swiftly made their way through the slots, pushing past a host of random NPC's that were also being drawn to the sound of the jackpot winner. Much to IF's surprise the jackpot winning song played a third time, and then a fourth. Whoever it was that was playing the slots was beyond lucky, and putting the casino out of business at the same time.

After finally pushing their way through the crowd of random, nameless, generic NPC's they emerged in an open space between the crowd and the person that was winning all the slot money.

What they didn't expect to see was a hand sticking out of an enormous pile of coins waving back and forth for help. Whoever was in there had been buried under all of their winnings. IF couldn't believe the amount of money that was there, there was easily ten million credits worth of coins just piled there.

But this wasn't the time to gawk. Someone was drowning in money, literally.

"Come on Compa!" IF said as she bolted for the pile of coins and grabbed the outstretched hand.

"I'm right with ya Iffy!" Compa said as she clamped down on the arm.

"One, two, PULL!" IF shouted. As one the two girls yanked on the arm. With an audible pop sound a familiar dark haired, red eyed woman popped out of the pile of coins.

"Noire?!" IF said incredulously.

"T-This isn't what it looks like!" Noire said hastily as she shot to her feet, "I just pull on the lever and I win!" To emphasis her point she grabbed the nearest slot machine and pulled the lever. The machine began to whirl and whine as the cards spun. After a few moments it landed on triple seven.

The clarion sound of a grand prize winner rang out across the casino. The coin dispenser for the slot machine opened and expelled a deluge of coins at Noire, almost burying the CPU of Lastation again.

"Wow, you didn't even put any coins in it! You're amazing!" Compa said as she stared at the slot machine in awe. "Lemme try!" Compa pulled on the same lever that Noire had.

It didn't budge.

"What!?"

"Here, Compa," IF said as she put a coin into the machine.

"Thanks Iffy!" Compa said as she pulled the lever.

The machine whirled and spun like Noire but unlike her it didn't land on triple sevens. In fact Compa didn't win anything at all.

"Awww, this sucks," Compa complained, "I wanted to win too."

"Maybe it's working now?" Noire asked as she pulled on the lever.

It moved.

Triple sevens.

"Watch out!" IF shouted as she body checked Noire out of the way before she could be buried under another mountain of coins.

"Noire is really lucky," Compa said as she gave Noire a brilliant smile.

"Miss, I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

The three of them looked up at the newcomer. He was a tall, elegantly dressed man wearing a full tuxedo with a bow tie, top hat and even a cane. Hovering above his head was a nametag: Owner of Casino Nightingale.

Uh oh, that wasn't good.

And on either side of him were two powerful looking NPC characters. These ones look much different than the burly muscle men that IF had defeated earlier. They seemed much more like boss battle type monsters being fully decked out in expensive looking armor with large weapons strapped to their backs. The looks in their eyes screamed experience, as did the half a million HP each of them had and the level 275 that hovered beside each name.

They were definitely two individuals IF didn't want to mess with.

"B-But this isn't my fault! I'm not doing anything wrong!" Noire protested as she dusted the stray coins off her body.

"Oh I'm quite certain it is your fault," the owner of the casino said as he stared down at Noire with an imperious look on his face. "We have detected someone hacking into our systems specifically to help you win at these slots. It is a common occurrence for those that wish to cheat us. They'll get outside help to do all the dirty work so that they can claim innocence. Whoever your hacking friend is, they are good, I'll grant them that, but we are used to this kind of situation. It's easy to spot if one knows what to look for."

"N-No! There must be a mistake! I-I don't have any friends!" Noire clamped her hands over her mouth and blushed in embarrassment in shame. Noire couldn't believe she had just said that.

"Ouch, that must be a harsh blow to one's pride," IF said as she winced at the words. She gave Noire a sympathetic look. The CPU of Lastation didn't look very good. She looked as if she had just committed suicide.

"And don't think I'll completely overlook the events at the blackjack table," the owner said as he turned to IF. "I don't suggest you try resisting this time." The two NPC's flanking the owner drew their menacing weapons and held them at the ready.

IF began to sweat as she held her hands up in a hurry, "No, no, I wouldn't do that, that dealer—"

"—has been dealt with," the owner cut her off. "We will not ask that you return the money you took, as it was unfairly taken from your friend," the owner's eyes glanced at Compa briefly before returning to IF, "but I must ask that the two of you never return to this casino."

"O-Of course, we were just on our way out," IF said as she hastily waved her hands in front of her, "R-Right Compa?"

"I thought we were going to see what Falcom was doing?" Compa asked as she tilted her head and gave IF a confused look.

"So there's a fourth one, Falcom…" the owner mused as he stroked his chin.

"She's got nothing to do with this!" IF said hurriedly as she tried to cover for her friend. She and Noire sort of deserved this punishment but Falcom didn't, her luck was bad enough as it was.

"I'll decide that, if she abides by the rules and doesn't try to cheat, she will be allowed to remain," the owner said and pointed to the exit in the distance, "but the three of you are no longer welcomed here, now get out!"

"Come on Compa, Noire, let's get out of here…" IF paused as she glanced over at Noire, "Noire?"

Noire was just staring straight ahead blankly. A look of absolute shock and bewilderment was etched on her face.

"Ah crap, she critically struck herself with that last comment of hers. She's ko'd," IF cursed as she grabbed Noire's arm and began to drag the comatose woman through the casino.

The two bodyguards followed them the whole way out to make sure they didn't take any detours. IF had to admit it was one of the more nerve wracking situations she been in. It wasn't as embarrassing as the ones she had been in with Neverlan, but at the same time she had never been escorted off a premise before by two individuals that could probably 1-hit-ko her.

The guards turned around and headed back inside once IF, Compa and Noire had been escorted out of the building. IF finally allowed herself to take a deep breath and let out a long sigh of relief. The only silver lining to the entire situation was that Neptune hadn't been there. If Neptune had been there things would have gone downhill real fast.

Speaking of the purple-haired goddess however…

"Where IS Neptune?"

Neptune's name seemed to snap Noire out of her shock. The black haired goddess shook her head and quickly shoved that shameful memory away. "She's still back at that beach. She said something about wanting to give the readers fan service."

"Oh… then shouldn't there be a scene change or something?" IF asked as she looked around.

"There it is Iffy!" Compa said as she pointed at a wall of white light that was speeding their way, "the scene ch—"

**~o~**

"Ah! Now this is how you relax," Neptune said as she lounged back on the lawn chair in her HDD form.

Her eyes were closed, her lips slightly parted and her long luxurious purple hair was undone, cascading down her back. Her hands were raised above her head and her fingers were buried in her hair. One long luscious leg was stretched out the length of the chair while the other one was brought up to her waist. Her back was slightly arched as she made that one, single perfect pose.

Her beautiful body was covered by absolutely nothing, her naked flesh was exposed for all the world to see, save for a the two areas that were covered by a pair of annoying little light beams that prevented people from seeing that singular perfect ecchi scene. However one could still see a small amount of the tops and bottoms of Neptune's gloriously perfect E-cup breasts that didn't sage in the slightest.

A camera flash went off.

Neptune's eyes opened in an instant, startled by the sudden flash of light. She quickly found the origin of the picture and stared curiously at the odd sight before her.

There was a random NPC standing about thirty feet away from her with a camera in his hands and a panicked and nervous look in his eyes.

But that wasn't what caused Neptune to stare.

It was the fact that he was soaking wet, covered in seaweed, with dozens of unhealthy looking tears in his grey outline. There was also a large assortment of random sea life attached to him in various places. Some seemed to be cleaning him, others were eating him, and a few just seemed to be along for the ride.

And out there behind him, laying sprawled out on the beach panting in exhaustion, was a battered and bruised sea serpent.

"Ummm… hi?" Random NPC 60173 asked hesitantly. There was a buzzing sound as a picture of Neptune splayed out in the buff on the lawn chair popped out of the bottom of the camera.

Neptune raised an eyebrow.

"Ah, can I have your autograph?" the random NPC asked as he held the recently taken picture up for Neptune to sign. His hands were shaking pretty badly, although whether that was due to a case of the nerves or the fact that he was on the verge of dying was anyone's guess.

Neptune just started to laugh.

**~o~**

The apartment that Neptune and the others were staying at for their duration at R-18 Island wasn't like a typical apartment. It was closer to a full fledge penthouse suite with seven bedrooms, eight bathrooms, an indoor pool, a fully stocked kitchen, two living rooms, a billiards room and more.

It even had a fully stocked library!

It was all due to Noire of course. If she was going to stay anywhere but at her own Basilicom she wanted to stay at the best. As a result the five of them had rented out the largest, most expensive and lavish place on the entire island.

It had cost a fortune but Noire had simply dipped into the Lastastion's funds and wrote it all off as a business expense.

However despite the large size of the place it was feeling rather cramped at the moment. IF could only look around in complete bafflement.

Her eyes flickered to the left.

Sparkle, sparkle, star, star.

Her eyes went right.

Bulge, bulge, muscle, muscle.

Her eyes went front and center.

Bling, bling, cha-ching, cha-ching.

She glanced over her shoulder.

Daze, daze, durp, durp.

Her eyes went up to the ceiling.

"How the hell did this all happen?"

"What's wrong Iffy?" Compa asked as she lounged back on a lazy boy with a martini in her hand. She was partially shadowed by a large umbrella and a couple of hand fans were waving in the air to help keep her cool.

"What's wrong?" IF cried out as she threw her hands in the air, "What's NOT wrong with this scene?!" IF pointed to one side, "Noire is over there, completely dazed and unresponsive! She critically struck herself so hard with her no friend comment that she hasn't recovered yet!" IF had accidentally brought up Noire's comment after they had gotten back to the penthouse and that had sent the CPU tumbling back into her shell-shocked state and hadn't recover since.

"N-No friends? I-I have no friends… I-I…" Noire shuddered and shook as she repeated those same words over and over.

"And over there," IF said as she pointed across the room opposite Noire at Falcom. Falcom was dripping in bling. She had two rings on each finger, all of them pure gold encrusted with diamonds, emeralds, rubies or sapphires. At least a dozen expensive necklaces hung around her neck and she had at least six bracelets on each ankle and wrist. If that wasn't enough her status screen showed that she had almost a hundred million credits. A HUNDRED MILLION! "Falcom is rich! Falcom is NEVER rich!"

"Hey! That's uncalled for!" Falcom protested as she brought her gem encrusted hand up to her chest.

Sure she usually had to pay the insurance fees for causing all those ship wrecks but she did have the odd time or two when she had money. At least until the next ship wreck anyways.

"And then there is that," IF said as she pointed behind her at the dazzling displays of sparkles and stars, "a random NPC is just sitting there staring at Neptune with so many stars and sparkles shooting out of his eyes I'm surprised he hasn't broken anything!" The stars were literally bouncing off everything, filling the air with their brilliance. IF shuddered to think what the repair cost would have been if those stars and sparkles had any sort of mass in them. Her finger shifted to the person standing just a couple feet away from the star struck NPC, "And what's more Neptune is in her hard drive divinity state actually ACTING like a CPU! Since when did Neptune EVER act like a CPU?"

"That's a little harsh IF, I can be a CPU when the situation calls for it," Neptune said with a slightly hurt expression on her face. "I can't disappoint my fans now can I?"

"And finally, what the hell are THEY doing here?" IF demanded as she pointed at the half dozen huge burly muscly bouncers that were hovering around Compa, doting on her like she was a Queen. One of them was holding up the large umbrella while two more were waving fans in the air. A fourth was mixing martinis and a fifth was giving Compa a decent shoulder massage. The last one was kneeling at the foot of the reclining chair massaging Compa's feet.

"We serve Lady Compa now!" the bouncers said as one and gave Compa a salute before they went back to what they were doing before.

IF's eyebrow started to twitch.

"Sorry Iffy, there may have been something in that medicine," Compa apologized. The bouncers had left the building soon after they had. The six of them had tailed Compa all the way back to the penthouse suite where they had gotten on their hands and knees, begging Compa to let them serve her.

"We will follow Lady Compa forever and ever!" the six bouncers said in unison.

…_she's gotten herself a boyfriend…_

…_she wants to play 'doctor'…_

Neptune's words echoed in IF's mind. There was the sound of shattering glass and a rage infused bellow ripped across the penthouse. "NO! I refuse!" IF shouted as she summoned her katars to her hands. A crazed and insane look filled her eyes, "If you don't all get out of here this instant I'm going to send you all screaming to the deepest pits of hell!" IF pointed her gleaming katars at the six bouncers. Rage infused fire shot down the length of the blade and coated the weapons in a malevolent aura.

The bouncers didn't stick around to wait to see what IF would do with those. They ran screaming across the room, out the glass doors, on to the porch, and off the side of penthouse suite, preferring the twenty story drop to IF's wrath.

"That wasn't very nice of you, Iffy," Compa said disapprovingly as she set her now empty martini glass down on the side table next to her lazy boy chair. "You could have at least waited for Mr. Bouncer #4 to finish mixing my martini."

"I find myself with a distinct lack of care," IF said dryly. She took a few deep breaths and calmed herself. She let her katars dissolve and disappear back into her inventory. No need to cut anyone now that there wasn't anyone fawning over Compa. IF turned to look at Falcom and let out a long sigh, "Please tell me there is some sort of logical explanation for all that?"

IF really hoped there was, because she was certain there wasn't going to be one for Neptune's situation and she was really desperate for a bit of normalcy to buffer THAT conversation.

Falcom gave IF an amused look and shook her head helplessly. "I've been here before, I believe I mentioned that?"

"Yes."

"The last time I was here I needed money to book a ship off the island so I visited that casino last time. I discovered poker then, and won enough money to buy my way off the island, and pay for the insurance claim that came when that ship sank off the coast of Leanbox," Falcom said as she shifted on the couch she was sitting on. "I met the owner of the casino back then and he was impressed by how I played. He said if I ever came back he'd hold a poker tournament."

"And I take it you won, and that's where all that stuff came from," IF finished, pointing at the enormous amount of jewellery that Falcom was wearing.

"Yup, near the end of the match some of the players were betting their jewellery. My inventory is full so I have to wear this stuff until I can sell it or the stuff in my inventory." Falcom said with a smile.

"But your luck is horrible…"

Falcom nodded her head, "ya, that's true, but poker isn't about getting lucky, it's about making everyone think you're lucky. It's much more of a head game than a game of chance."

IF breathed in deep and let out a long relieved breath. She knew there had to be a logical reason for Falcom's sudden wealth. Chances are after a few ship wrecks most of it would be gone anyways bringing her back down to where she normally was.

She could handle that. That had a bit of logic and common sense about it. It made her feel a bit better. Even Noire's situation made sense, it was more sad than anything really.

Speaking about Noire however…

IF turned to the dazed woman with a pitying look on her face. "Noire, how long are you going to just stand there staring at the ceiling?"

Sure, that was a pretty embarrassing and hopeless thing to admit to oneself, but her reaction was, and still is, a little excessive.

"I-I have no friends… I-I—."

"What are you talking about Noire? I thought we were friends, was I wrong?" Neptune asked as she took notice of Noire's despondent mood for the first time.

IF didn't blame her really, it was hard to see much from over there since there were so many stars flying about. In fact they were really starting to pile up; Neptune was already up to her knees in stars.

Neptune's comment instantly snapped Noire out of her daze. She whirled around to face Neptune with a hopeful look on her face. Realizing how she must look to everyone Noire coughed and regained her composure, "Well of course you are! Why wouldn't you want to be my friend? I-I mean it's not like everyone doesn't not want to not be my friend."

"And what's with the new guy?" IF asked Neptune, pointing at the random NPC that was staring dreamily up at the CPU of Planeptune.

"He's a devoted fan of mine," Neptune said with a small laugh and a shake of her head.

Noire did a double take as she realized that there was someone new in their penthouse. She hadn't even noticed the random NPC sitting there staring up at Neptune like she was the center of the universe.

For some reason the thought of anyone liking Neptune more than her irked Noire. She was the one with the perfect figure, not Neptune.

And the number of sparkles and stars shooting from his eyes and filling the air was downright obnoxious. He wasn't just a fanatic. He was totally rubbing it in all of their faces that he preferred Neptune over all of them.

"I don't understand what he sees in you," Noire said as she questioned the random NPC's choice of devotion. "I mean, I'm only better than you at everything."

"I'm not interested in saggy hags," the random NPC said without taking his eyes off Neptune.

The room went deathly silent and for a time the only thing that could be heard was the pings and sparkles of stars bouncing off Neptune.

Noire's temper erupted like a violent volcano. Steam began to pour from her ears as she glared at the random NPC sitting innocently on the couch staring up at Neptune and worshipping her like a goddess!

"I AM NOT SAGGY!" Noire screamed at the offensive NPC. She traced her breasts with her hands, "my breasts are perfectly shaped and absolutely firm! There is not an ounce of sag in them! Not to mention my constricted waist and perfect figure! I am FAR better than Neptune!"

The random NPC ignored her completely.

"Now, now, Noire," Neptune said as she got between Noire and her adoring fan, spilling the mountain of stars that had gathered around her all over the floor. Noire looked as if she was about to leap at the man and strangle him, "let's not get upset over this, it's nothing to be ashamed of. I mean, I am much curvier than you in this form."

"GAH! If that's how you want to play this game," Noire said as she activated her transformation. Noire's back arched and her arms stretched out to either side. Her bathing suit glimmered briefly and disappeared, leaving her momentarily nude. Her body shimmered with an ethereal light as it began to undergo a transformation. Her breasts enlarged several sizes, her ass became fuller and she grew several centimeters. Her hair changed from black to white and her eyes became a vibrant green color with an oblong shaped iris.

Another bright flash of light enveloped Noire and when it died down she was clothed in a bathing suit once more, only this one was different than the last, being a red and white stripped bikini.

"I am definitely better than Neptune in this form!" Noire said proudly and thrust her chest forward, her hands on her hips.

Still no response from the random NPC that was completely enraptured by Neptune. His eyes were glued to her bikini clad backside.

IF let out a long sigh and scratched her head, "Alright, I get that he's completely devoted to you, but why is he here?" IF asked as she approached the random NPC. For some reason he seemed oddly familiar to her but she couldn't quite place why. Most grey outlined NPC's looked the same.

He was also holding a dozen photos in his hands for some odd reason.

"He was hurt. I couldn't just leave him there. What kind of a Goddess would I be if I just left my adoring fans to die on a beach?"

"I guess," IF agreed hesitantly as she stopped just shy of the NPC that didn't appear to have noticed her. It was only then that she was able to see what sort of medical attention Neptune had given the outline figure. "Really? Duct tape?"

"He was literally falling apart on the spot, it's all I had on hand," Neptune said sheepishly.

"Neptune can duct tape me all day long…" the random NPC said in a dreamy voice.

IF shook her head, that was more than a little creepy. "Why not just take him to the hospital and get him real treatment?"

"Maybe because random NPC's like him aren't even allowed on R-18 Island?" Falcom said as she came up beside IF. Two of her rings were missing, given to Compa as a gift.

"Ya! Now that I think about it, how did he even get here?" Noire demanded as she came around to take a better look at the random NPC.

"He swam," Neptune said with a deadpanned look on her face.

"From the mainland?" Noire asked incredulously. That was something even SHE didn't want to attempt. Not that she couldn't do it or anything, because she could if she tried, it was just that it was so far and not really worth it.

"Anything for my Neptune!"

IF bent over and glanced at the photos that the random NPC was holding in his hands. A large sweat drop rolled down the back of her head. The photos were all of Neptune in various poses at the beach wearing nothing more than a pair of light beams for cover.

Neptune had obviously done some posing for him; there was no way he'd be able to get shots like those without her knowledge. He must be quite the Neptune fanatic to have swum all this way just for a few photo shots. Her eyes glanced over at his name tag: Random NPC 60173.

A memory clicked inside IF.

"I remember you now!" IF shouted in realization. "You're the Random NPC I accepted the A-Rank courier quest from!"

"You know him Iffy?" Compa asked curiously as she looked on in interest. Compa was especially interested in the new ways to apply duct tape to injuries. She'd have to try that in the future.

"Yes! And it all makes sense, he's a complete Neptune nut job. He has every single one of her memorabilia, both Neptune and Purple Heart, in duplicates!" IF said as she remembered the room she had seen. It all made sense now. She could definitely see him pulling this kind of stunt considering his absolute devotion to Neptune and inability to get close due to the extreme discrimination against Random NPCs without proper descriptions.

"Figures that Neptune's fans would be as nutty as she is," Noire said with a little smirk on her face. She suddenly felt a lot better about the whole situation. She wasn't losing to Neptune in a proper competition. That NPC was just as crazy as Neptune was. Everything made sense in Noire's world now. She was still better than Neptune to all the normal people out there.

"Hey… that hurts…" the random NPC said with a sniffle. If he had the ability to cry one would have been able to see tears running down his face. Unfortunately NPC's without descriptions didn't have the ability to cry, they just suffered. "Just because I love Neptune doesn't mean you can call me names."

"Oh that's so romantic! The random NPC just confessed his love to Neptune!" Compa said as she gushed. "A forbidden love between a lowly worthless random NPC and the mighty Goddess of Planeptune!"

"Lowly? Worthless? Why don't you just kick me some more while I'm down," the random NPC sobbed bitterly.

"Oh, I'm sorry Mr. Random NPC, I didn't mean to offend you," Compa apologized.

"I'm not sure I can return your feelings for you," Neptune said carefully as she made her way through the pile of glittering stars to stand in front of the random NPC. "But I can do this." She grabbed the random NPC's nameplate and ripped it from him.

"AHH! My name! I'm going to disappear!" the nameless entity wailed in despair.

IF winced, that had to hurt. No one really knew what happened when someone had their name taken from them, but one thing was certain, no one remembered anyone that did. So that either meant it had never happened.

Or if it did, the person had ceased to exist, along with any memory of their existence. Characters with descriptions had protection against that sort of thing happening to them, random NPC's like number 60173 didn't.

"Oh you'll be fine, I think," Neptune said as she quickly deleted the name and began to write something else in its place. Despite her words she was trying to hurry, just a bit. She could see the random NPC fading away even as she typed in the new letters.

The fading away from existence and disappearing forever did have some merit now that she thought about it. No one ever remembered the past random NPC's or what they did, and the numbers were reused after a while.

"There we go!" Neptune said as she quickly jammed the name tag back into the random NPC.

Over his head was a new name. No longer was he Random NPC 60173. He was now labeled Neptune's Aworing Fan.

"Neptune, I think you spelled adoring wrong," Noire said as she pointed at the spelling mistake.

"I was sort of in a hurry," Neptune said hastily as she raised her hands in protest, "he was kind of disappearing on the spot."

"I have a unique name…" Neptune's Aworing Fan said in awe as he looked up at the new name tag that was shining with purple brilliance, at least in his eyes anyways. "Neptune gave me a unique name." The sheer amount of awe and love in his voice was borderline fanatical.

No, it went way beyond fanatical. There was no way anyone would ever be able to sway him from Neptune.

"Well, he doesn't seem to mind too much," IF noted as she stared at Neptune's Aworing Fan. His grey formless face shimmered with so much brilliance IF almost expected stars and sparkles to start—.

Ping, ping, ping.

And they started up again. Stars and sparkles were once more shooting out of the random, erm, Neptune's Aworing Fan's face.

CRUNCH!

IF started in surprise at the strange noise. She looked over at Compa and gaped at her. She was nibbling on one of the stars that had come shooting out of Neptune's Aworing Fan.

"What are you doing Compa?!" IF asked, completely flabbergasted by the strange development.

"It tastes like chocolate," Compa said as she popped the star the rest of the way in her mouth.

Wait, what? Chocolate? Since when did stars have any sort of taste to them?

Neptune twitched.

Falcom snagged one of the stars shooting through the air and licked it tentatively. She looked over at Compa and IF, her eyes widening in surprise, "She's right, they do taste like chocolate."

Neptune twitched again, more violently than before.

"Let me try one," Noire said, genuinely curious at the strange development. She snatched one of the stars as it shot past Neptune's shoulder and popped it into her mouth, "I'm not really tasting the chocolate, it's more like those custard puddings Neptune always eats."

Neptune began to tremble uncontrollably and began to mutter a mantra under her breath to calm herself down.

IF picked two stars up off the pile and looked at the curiously. She licked each and started in surprise, "they're all different flavors! But this one definitely tastes like custard puddings!"

That was it, Neptune couldn't take it anymore. There was a brilliant flash of purple light and Neptune was back to her normal form. She was already diving head first into the giant pile of stars and sparkles before she had even finished transforming. With a whoop of joy she disappeared into the pile of stars with a splash.

"I'm taking him home with me! My own personal custard pudding star dispenser!" Neptune said as her head popped up out of the large mound of chocolate and pudding flavored stars. Her mouth opened wide and she gobbled up a dozen stars at once. "Mmm, thish ish sosh goosh."

"Neptune is eating me… I'm so happy…" Neptune's Aworing Fan said in tone that bespoke of absolute worship and devotion. The stars and sparkles began to shoot out even faster than before.

IF let out a long sigh, it seemed like she was sighing a lot these days.

"One more crazy to deal with while hanging around Neptune, now I really feel sorry for Histoire..."

**x~X~x**

The five of them, plus one, remained at the R-18 resort for a week before they decided they had been there long enough and made plans to head back home. Although they were barred from the Casinos, except Falcom who was welcomed with open arms, there was still a lot to do around the island.

Blanc headed home early. A couple days after Neptune and the others had arrived a message had come from Mina, her Oracle, in Lowee asking her to return as soon as possible.

The rest of them had spent one day at a beach, just lazing around in the sun or playing in the water. Noire had, of course, insisted on a regular beach and not the nudist one from before. The others had been easily swayed to accept her proposal and even Neptune eventually agreed. The purple-haired goddess had her light beams and had given the readers their fan service scene so she was satisfied.

Aside from that they had spent days hiking through the tropical forests, going to various water parks and zoos, and even played a round of golf, although golf ended up in a competition between Noire and Neptune. The two had transformed by the second hole and were competing viciously against one another. Considering they were CPUs with super human capabilities and processing powers, every shot after that had become a hole in one.

The owner of the golf course had almost fainted dead away at the record breaking shots being taken by the two women. The humans in the group didn't even bother to try and keep up and had gone at their own pace.

Ultimately Neptune had won the golf game due to her being up one shot over Noire after the first hole.

The five girls had an endless supply of snacks, courtesy of the star struck Neptune's Aworing Fan that followed Neptune everywhere she went. As annoying as it was to have someone like that following them around, even IF had to admit it was pretty convenient to have your own personal candy dispenser on hand.

It also caused havoc for the cleaning staff of the island. The stars didn't really disappear like normal stars so even as Neptune's Aworing Fan followed Neptune and the others around, a horde of cleaners followed him around, picking the stars up off the ground that Neptune and the others didn't eat. Despite the fact that random NPC's weren't supposed to be allowed on the island, none were willing to directly confront multiple CPUs about it.

However like all good things there came an end eventually. Now the five of them, plus one, were making their trip back to the mainland.

And IF was fervently praying that this trip would be as uneventful as the one to the island, excluding the battle for Port Hole and Neptune's near death.

Unfortunately that was not to be as they were halfway to the mainland when the wind suddenly picked up. And it wasn't a gentle breeze. Gale force winds howled in from the north across the open ocean, bringing with it the biting chill of the north. The waves, which began as gentle, rolling crests and dips that the ship barely noticed, quickly grew into monstrous swells large enough to swallow the ship whole and not even notice. The ship didn't so much roll with the waves as it scaled them like mountains and hurtled down the other side at reckless speeds. Large, black boiling clouds raced in from the north, blotting out the sun and the sky and turning the once bright early afternoon as dark as night.

Then the rain came, slow at first, a drop here, a drop there, but it quickly picked up until it turned into a torrential downpour. The cold wind chilled the air and the ship, causing the rain to quickly freeze upon contact with the ship.

The sailors on the ship went into overdrive as they worked hard to ride the storm. The mainsails and foresails were pulled down before the wind could ruin the sail, or worse, rip the masts from the deck itself. Small jib sails were raised at the fore and aft of the ship to help steer the ship in the rough weather to come.

The sailors were frequently forced to grab onto something as enormous walls of water rushed across the deck from bow to stern every time the ship reached the bottom of a trough and slammed into the wave ahead of it. More than a few sailors were swept clean off the deck when they were either not fast enough to grab something, or whatever it was they were holding onto was swept away as well.

"Damn you Falcom! I'm never letting you pick the ship again!" IF shouted at the stock adventuress, trying to be heard over the howling wind. She had her katars embedded into the main mast and was using them to prevent herself from being washed off or blown off the deck. Her large coat was missing, having been sent back to her inventory to keep her phones dry and functioning. As a result she was soaking wet and shivering due to the cold. She hadn't been wearing anything very significant beneath the coat.

IF had unfortunately slept in by accident this morning and by the time she had rushed to the port Falcom had already found a ship, purchased passage, and even managed to get everyone BUT IF on board. The ship had started to set sail the moment she had left the gangplank and had gotten onto the deck.

"This is pretty tame compared to what I'm used to," Falcom shouted back as she stood tall on the slippery deck with ease. She had been in so many bad storms over the years that nothing save the total destruction of the ship itself could dislodge her from the deck.

"Really? How bad does it usually get?" Compa shouted out her question. She wasn't far from IF, wrapped around her syringe that was jammed into the deck of the ship.

"I don't see any whirlpools, water spouts, comets, or giant tentacle monsters yet, so I'd rate this storm as 3 out of 10," Falcom replied, her eyes scanning the horizon for said natural disasters. "There's no snow either, which may actually drop it to a 2.5."

"Comets AND sea monsters?!" Noire shouted incredulously as she held onto the railing with one hand and a rope tied to a mooring post with the other. "You've got to be joking!" She didn't want to deal with any of that stuff. This was bad enough as it was. The water was cold, she was cold, her clothes were soaked and were now clinging to her body uncomfortably, not to mention they had become partially see-through.

Falcom shrugged and walked calmly across the icy deck. The ship slammed into a wave, sending a wall of cold, icy water rushing down the length of the deck. Falcom seemed to almost glide through the rushing water like it was nothing more than a stiff breeze. Her sea faring skills were top notch due to how often she took ships and was forced to ride out incredible storms. Her movement barely impeded by the powerful storm that was hammering the ship and its occupants, "Believe what you will, but let me tell you about that one storm up in Lowee a year back. That was rough. A kraken had wrapped itself around the ship, chunks of ice the size of small buildings were falling from the sky, and we were being sucked into a whirlpool at the same time. I'd still only rate that an 8 though. I saw several water spouts but they never reached the ship, it could have been worse."

"Y-You can't really expect us to believe that do you?" Noire demand, her voice filled with disbelief. She wasn't much of a sea faring individual and this storm was about as bad as she ever wanted to see.

"Like I said, believe what you will."

"At least they seem to be enjoying this," IF said grumpily, her eyes were pointed upwards towards the top of the main mast.

"Weee! I'm a kite!" Neptune's Aworing Fan shouted in joy as he was whipped around in the violent wind. He had been tied to the main mast by a length of rope with just enough slack to allow it to slide up and down the pole, but not enough to come undone. As a result he was doing circles around the main mast at dizzying speeds.

Ping, sparkle, ping, sparkle, ping, sparkle.

And somehow, despite the seriousness of the situation, stars were STILL shooting out of his eyes. The glowing stars left a circular trail behind him, making it look like the ship had a glowing halo from a distance.

And following behind him along the same path, was Neptune, happily munching away on the stars. "This is like the greatest thing ever! I feel like I'm going to turn blue and grow spiky hair at any moment!" Neptune shouted happily as she was whipped around the main mast.

There was a crack of lightning, blinding everyone momentarily. A shock went through the ship as a bolt of lightning hit the main mast.

"I'm a shooting starrrrrrr!" Neptune's Aworing Fan shouted as he was flung off into the distance. The lightning strike had burned his rope to ash.

"No! My candy dispenser!" Neptune wailed in horror as she watched her custard flavored stars disappear into the horizon.

"Get down here Nep! It's getting dangerous!" IF shouted at the purple-haired goddess. Not trusting Neptune to do the intelligent thing IF was already climbing up the mast, hand over hand, using her katars as hand holds in the wood.

"I'd upgrade this to a 4 out of 10, now," Falcom said as she eyed the clouds that had begun spitting out lightning. Lightning storms were very dangerous on the open sea since the ships were usually the tallest objects on them. However, whether it was a good thing or a bad thing, the swells had become so enormous that the ship literally disappeared when it went down into one of the troughs.

"W-What the hell is that!?" Noire cried out as she pointed at something in the distance.

Everyone stopped and glanced in the direction she pointed, save for Neptune who was now whipping around the main mast so fast she was starting to look a little green. Out there, in the distance, was something that not even Falcom had ever seen before, and it was rapidly coming their way.

"Alright, now it's a six," Falcom said nervously as she watched a tornado made out of pure lightning hurtle across the ocean towards them.

"Do something!" Noire shouted at her.

But Noire didn't need to say anything, Falcom was already moving, her feet barely touched the deck as she hurtled across the deck towards the helm of the ship. She grabbed the faceless captain and threw him over the side of the ship and quickly took a hold of the wheel.

"Hold on tight everyone, this is about to get wild!" Falcom shouted out a warning, there was a wild grin of excitement and joy on her face.

"You mean it isn't already isn't?!" Noire shouted incredulously.

Falcom yanked on the wheel and spun to the right. The ship groaned under the sudden change in direction. The entire ship tilted as the ship started to go sideways up the front of an enormous swell. For a brief moment there was a very real fear that the ship was about to capsize but Falcom's skill level in sea faring wasn't just for show.

However there was one person that couldn't handle the sudden shift in direction.

"BLARGH!"

"Ewww, what the hell is this?" Noire shouted as sparkling ooze rained down on her from above.

"God Nep, that's gross," IF shouted as she held a hand above her head to shield herself as much as possible.

"Nep-Nep! You got my clothes all dirty!" Compa complained, although she dared not let go of her syringe to clean herself off.

Sparkling vomit rained down on everyone on deck. Chocolate, plus a full stomach, combined with a dizzying spin and add a touch of sudden change in direction and it was a recipe for disaster, as Neptune's unfortunate party members found out. Neptune continued to empty her stomach as the wind and the ship whipped her around the main mast in every which way. Neptune was really regretting tying the rope around her stomach instead of her waist.

A brilliant towering pillar of yellow light suddenly chased away all thoughts of sparkling vomit though. The tornado of lightning was upon them.

"Hang on everyone!" Falcom shouted loudly to everyone on the deck below. She whipped the wheel the other way and the ship pitched back in the opposite direction, painting everyone below with a fresh coat of partially digested sparkles. She had waited until just the last moment to do this, by heading up sideways she had delayed the moment she had reached the crest of the wave. They were at the top now, and the tornado was bearing down on them.

Due to being at the top, Falcom's skills, and more than a little irregular game logic, the ship drifted, carving a path through the top of the crest and down the other side. Wood groaned, ropes snapped, sailors were picked up and thrown across the deck, and sometimes overboard, but the ship survived. They skirted the edge of the lightning tornado so close you could almost reach out and touch it. Falcom reefed on the wheel and righted the ships course after they passed the tornado and set a course for the nearest point of land. If the storm kept up they'd never make it down the coast to Port Hole, they needed to hit landfall.

At least they had made it past the tornado, which was probably the worst this storm had to offer. They had pretty much depopulated most of the sea monsters in this area at Port Hole and whirlpools didn't normally form in this part of the ocean. It also wasn't cold enough for comets to fall from the sky either.

Well, at least most of them made it past the tornado.

"Nep?" IF called out in concern as she searched the sky with her eyes, "Come on Nep, this isn't funny!"

No one answered.

Noire blanched, her heart skipping a beat, as her sharp eyes spotted a snapped rope blowing around wildly in the wind. It was the rope that Neptune had been tied to the mast with. If she was no longer tied to the ship then that meant she had been hurled overboard during Falcom's wild maneuvers.

Noire eyes began to scan the waters, looking for any sign of her friend. Neptune wasn't very hard to spot and as she was always so full of hot air she should float better than any life raft. Noire didn't have to look long however as someone else managed to find her first.

"Umm… she's over there," Compa said as she pointed at the tornado disappearing to the south. There was a small purple shape spinning around the in the twister, slowly making its way up to the cloud cover above.

"Damn it Neptune! Stop getting stuck in life threatening situations!" IF shouted helplessly at her rapidly disappearing friend.

"I'll chase after her!" Falcom said as she made to turn the ship around.

"Don't bother, the tornado is faster than we are," IF returned in a depressed voice as she made her way back down the mast.

There was no way they'd ever catch up to it, even with indestructible sails that could catch the wind of this storm and not tear apart the tornado would still outpace them. They'd just have to bank on the fact that she'd live on the account that she's the main character of this story. Hopefully the writer wouldn't kill her off this early in the story like he did with the main heroine in his last story. Even if that didn't happen, knowing Neptune's luck she'd probably end up landing in some far off, unknown place filled with strange wonders and clones of everyone.

And how were they going to explain this to Histoire when they returned?

'Oh sorry Histoire, we let your Goddess get thrown overboard, sucked up into a lightning tornado, and carried off to god knows where!'

Histoire would pop her top. Despite her frequent vocalization of displeasure towards Neptune's attitude there wasn't a single person in this world Histoire cared about more than Neptune. It was probably best to not even go home until they figured out where Neptune had been carried off to.

"Take us to port, Falcom!" Noire shouted up at the adventuress, "We're going to Lastation! There's nothing I can't find using Lastation's information network!"

Falcom hesitated, the storm was bad and there was no telling if it was going to get any worse before it got any better. It was safer to head straight to land and crash the ship, they'd be able to survive that impact just fine. Sinking out in the ocean and having to swim ashore was quite a bit riskier. Despite her efforts the ship wasn't in very good condition, she was definitely taking on water, not to mention the amount that had come over the bow and spilled down into the hold.

"Can we even make it back to Port Hole?" IF shouted as she tried to be heard over a particular loud gust of wind, giving voice to Falcom's concerns. It didn't take a ship building expert to realize that the ship was not in very good condition.

Especially since the entire crew had been washed overboard by this point in time.

"If the storm lets up I can, otherwise I'm not sure we can even make it to land, let alone Port Hole," Falcom shouted her reply over the wind. As if to punctuate her words the ship shuddered and groaned as it slammed reached the bottom of an enormous trough and slammed into the rising wave ahead of it.

The ship submarined for a few brief scary moments before it popped back out of the wave and continued on its way up the side.

Noire spat out some water and shook her head, splaying water all over the place. "M-Maybe you're right, let's just get off the water." She wasn't looking forward to a long trek back to Lastastion, but she cared even less about staying on the ocean in this weather, especially when it was on a wounded ship.

"Take us to land Falcom!" IF shouted up at her friend.

"Right! Everyone hold on tight! I'll show you just how amazing my ship wrecking skills are!" Falcom said cheerfully as she steered the ship directly towards the nearest point of the main continent.

"What? I didn't hear you over the wind!" Noire shouted up at Falcom.

Falcom didn't reply, she simply smiled and stayed on course. For some odd reason a sudden chill went down the backs of everyone onboard, and it had nothing to do with the cold.


	5. The Search

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hyperdimension Neptunia. All characters, thoughts and ideas that exist in this story that were taken from the original works belong to their creators, Compile Heart and Idea Factory. Only original thoughts and or characters created in this story are my own.**

**Author's Note: **There will periodically be sections that seem to be disconnected from the main story, probably 3 or 4 altogether. This first one is at the start of this chapter. They're not disconnected. In some ways they are just as important as the primary story.

**Chapter 5: The Search**

**At some point in time either in the past or future, somewhere that may or may not be the current Gamindustri…**

"Cross Combination!"

Neptune flashed across the battlefield; a serious of criss-crossing slashes tore apart a large viral monster, sending it back to the compiler in a cloud of pixels.

While normally one would stay to see the results of the battle flash in the air above, Neptune didn't wait. She was already long gone by the time the results were displayed.

Neptune, transformed in her lithe, powerful HDD form, hurtled across the ruined and scorched land as she raced towards her destination. Her eyes were focused on a rapidly approaching landmass in the distance heedless to the area around her. She had been in battle for so long her senses would warn her of an impending attack long before she ever saw it. There also wasn't much to see anymore, nothing that she wanted to see anyways. This place used to be a beautiful forest, Virtua forest, her forest. Now it was an empty wasteland, the location of seemingly endless waves of battles against the viral infection that was spreading across Gamindustri.

No one knew where the viral infection had come from and it had arrived on the most ironic of days.

It had suddenly arrived one day, almost five years after the destruction of the great evil that had threatened the world. The evil entity had worked through its allies at first, spreading insidiously across the land, subverting the power of the CPU, until it was ready to strike at them itself.

But when it had, despite all the preparations it had done and the efforts of its minions, the CPUs and their sisters had been ready. Along with their human allies they had managed to drive the evil away.

Every year since then, on the anniversary of that victory, the four CPUs, their little sisters and all their friends gathered at one of the CPU's Basilicom to celebrate. It changed locale each year and that year had been at Planeptune. Neptune remembered it clearly because it was supposed to be a special, joyous occasion and had quickly turned into anything but.

At the very height of the celebration a viral attack had slammed into Nep Tower, the very heart of Planeptune and the location of the Basilicom. The attack destroyed a large section of the tower and caused viral infections to rapidly spread throughout the tower. Anyone and everything that wasn't human quickly became infected. The plants evolved and attacked the people, the animals became rabid and vicious, the computer systems became corrupted and ruined, and havoc reigned across the tower.

The festivities had ended pretty quickly after that. The CPUs and the CPU Candidates had all transformed and everyone had quickly rushed to stop the viral attack on Nep Tower. Ultimately the attack had been easily thwarted due to the quick actions of everyone there, but unfortunately the assault had turned out to simply be a prelude to far worse things to come.

No sooner had they finished cleaning out Nep Tower of the infection than reports arrived of multiple armies filled with viral creatures making their way towards the city of Planeptune. No one seemed to have a clue where they had come from or how they managed to get as close as they had without detection.

They had mobilized quickly and managed to defeat the invading forces with relative ease. But like the first strike, it was simply a taste of what was to come. The attacks kept coming, their targets constantly changing, battle lines were completely ignored and the Goddesses could do little more than react to changes in the situation. So far they had managed to win almost every battle, but the few they had lost had come at a terrible price.

Neptune knew it was only a matter of time before something gave way, someone fell at a critical time, and then things would cascade out of control. They had all grown immensely powerful. She herself was well over level three hundred. But it didn't matter that she was a one woman army, she couldn't be everywhere at once.

The same went for everyone else.

And when the number of attacks exceeded the number of heroes that could be dispatched, hard decisions had to be made. Many had already been. Wide swaths of Neptune's territory would never be the same, the outlying cities and towns were now nothing more than smoking ruins.

And sometimes vibrant, beautiful places ended up totally destroyed, like what Virtua Forest had become, or the Panan Jungle. Despite fighting hard to protect her land, the sheer number of battles had left both places ruined and desolate.

The oddest thing about the entire situation was that only Planeptune was getting attacked. The other three nations had been left completely alone, not even a single ounce of viral infection had made its way outside of Planeptune.

And it was wreaking havoc on Neptune's shares. After the final boss's defeat she had held nearly half the shares in the world. Now she was dead last behind the other three nations and falling further behind every day. What's worse, with her land the way it was, there was a good chance she would never fully recover from this.

But it wasn't all doom and gloom. New heroes had arisen to help in the battle against the viral infection, they had all made new friends.

UbiSlyph had been the first to join them. She was a tall, quiet spoken, young assassin clothed all in white with black leather armor. She often warned them of attacks before anyone else and specialized in taking down bosses in a single strike, often aiding them in avoiding lengthy, drawn out battles they didn't have the time for.

Star and Ocean, a female/male pair of twins, had come next. Star, the female of the pair specialized at long range combat and support, giving her brother the cover that he needed. Ocean was the male of the two was a blade master that specialized in close quarters combat, often supported, either through buffs or through long range artillery spells, by his sister.

The fourth one to join them was Code. A fun loving individual that was absolutely deadly with his double bladed spear. He became a walking blade storm when he threw himself into battle. Whereas the others were all more or less independent, friends that supported Neptune and the other Goddesses, he was loyal only to her. Neptune had never seen him take direction from anyone else without her approval first or unless he felt she benefited from it.

Valkyrie was the last to arise to their aid. She was a beautiful woman with long, platinum hair that seemed to shine in the light. Her mastery of the blade surpassed all save Neptune and Noire. Whenever she became lost herself in the fight, brilliant white wings sprouted from her back making her look like a true Valkyrie. She even had a unique special ability that went far beyond the norm. Nibelung Valesti, could destroy a mountain.

And the best news of all was that they had finally discovered the source of the attacks, or at least one of the sources. UbiSlyph had discovered a rift between Gamindustri and Viraldustri. It was deep inside a cave in the middle of what had once been Virtua Forest Depths. From what had been discovered the rift didn't stay open long, just long enough for a major force to come through. Then it would disappear and reappear elsewhere.

It would explain why they could never figure out where the attacks were coming from.

However thanks to UbiSlyph's quick effort they had managed to hold the portal in place long enough to do something about it; IF, Compa, Nepgear, Noire, Code and Falcom were there already.

UbiSlyph was making her way across the nation of Planeptune informing every one of the discovery. Neptune herself had been on the far side of her nation finishing up another army of Viral monsters when UbySlyph had informed her of the news.

She had made her way here with all haste.

A landmark appeared in the distance. The cave wasn't very large, just an outcropping of rock that jutted out from the earth, one of many sets of rocks that dotted the landscape. She never would have known that there was even a cave hidden in that rock formation, let alone a viral portal, if UbiSlyph hadn't specifically mentioned those coordinates. The only thing that really separated it from any other was its location near the edge of a cliff that overlooked the western ocean.

Although it helped that she could see Falcom battling against a horde of viral monsters outside the cave.

Alone.

Something was wrong here.

Power surged through Neptune. A purple aura erupted around her and her flight speed instantly doubled. Her blade rose, held horizontal towards the horde of monsters battling Falcom. Blue and purple lightning began to crackle up and down the edge of her blade.

The ground ruptured beneath Neptune as she broke the sound barrier, a sonic boom rippling across the landscape. The CPU of Planeptune covered the distance to Falcom in an instant. The ruined landscape was ruined even further as Neptune tore an enormous trench in the earth with her passage. A wall of purple fire, a hundred feet tall, filled the trench.

The monsters didn't stand a chance. Hundreds of them were instantly destroyed, filling the air with pixels in her wake.

"Neptune! I'm glad you could make it!" A panting and exhausted Falcom said as she finished off the last monster on their side of the firewall. Her dragonslayer sword easily dispatched it with a single swing.

"Are you alright? Where are the others?" Neptune asked as floated over to Falcom.

There should be six of them here. Three outside fighting against the monsters while the other three were inside dealing with the rift, making sure it was closed permanently. Last she heard Falcom, Noire and Code were outside fighting the monsters while IF, Compa and her sister were inside.

Falcom quickly drank a Nep Bull EX II and was instantly restored to full HP and SP. "I am now," the stock adventuress said with a weak smile on her face. The monsters weren't _that_ particularly difficult, the small fry anyways, but there had been a lot. It had almost been death by a thousand pin pricks. Her SP had run out early and she had been reduced to regular single-target attacks. There were just so many that she hadn't the time to sit back and recover.

Not since Noire left her out here.

"What about the others?"

Falcom's face became grim and the sinking feeling in the pit of Neptune's stomach became worse. Falcom never looked grim, even in the face of certain death she'd have a cheerful look on her face.

"I think Noire betrayed us," Falcom said, spitting the words off as if they were a bitter pill.

"You think? What do you mean?" That didn't make any sense. Noire was almost as dedicated as she was to ridding the viral menace. If Planeptune fell, Lastation was next, so Noire had almost as much incentive as Neptune did to put down this invasion once and for all.

"A Viral Behemoth Prime was leading this army," Falcom started to explain, causing Neptune's eyes widened in shock. Every army had a major boss as the leader of it. A Viral Behemoth Prime was one of the strongest. The last time one of them appeared it had taken all four CPUs working together to bring it down. "The three of us, Noire, Code and myself, couldn't beat it on our own. Noire suggested that she and Code delay it until you came while I handled the weaker enemies."

Neptune nodded but trepidation began to fill her. It was a reckless, but sound, plan. Someone needed to make sure none of the monsters got into the cave to interfere with Compa, IF and Nepgear. If Noire and Code had fought simply to survive they could last far longer than they would if they were going for the kill, less risks needed to be taken. However Neptune couldn't help but fear that the story was about to get much worse.

"Code agreed and attacked the behemoth. He drew it away from the entrance to the edge of the cliff…" Falcom trailed off as she pointed at a portion of the cliff side near the cave. It looked just like any other part of the cliff, with the sole exception that it didn't looked weathered.

In fact it looked as if someone had sheered straight through it with a sword…

Neptune's eyes widened in disbelief, "Noire wouldn't do that!" she protested as she whirled back around to face Falcom. Sure Noire could be rather blunt and brash, but she wasn't a bad person. She was just a tsundere, someone who wasn't good at expressing their emotions and covered it up with a tough exterior.

"I wouldn't have believed it either if I hadn't seen it with my own two eyes," Falcom said bitterly. Of all the newcomers, Code was the most loyal and trust worthy. He had literally thrown himself in front of killing blows to save the rest of them. Even Noire could count herself amongst those he had saved. "She sheared off the cliff and sent Code into the water below with the Behemoth."

Neptune shot to the edge of the cliff and glanced over the edge. At the bottom of the cliff was nothing more than a collection of weathered rocks. There was no sign of Code or the Behemoth.

Neptune turned to Falcom, there was a deadly serious expression on her face, "Where is Noire?"

"She went inside the cave… Neptune, there's something wrong with Noire, she… didn't look well when she flew past me."

"I'll figure out what's going on, will you be fine out here Falcom?" Neptune asked as flew back over to her friend.

Falcom eyed the wall of fire, it was beginning to die off now, revealing a small army of monsters behind it. She estimated there was just shy of two hundred left. A small pittance compared to the ten thousand she, Noire and Code had faced when they first arrived. With her SP and HP back up to full she'd be able to finish them off in five minutes. "Ya, your attack finished most of what was left. I'll join you after I finish mopping up the small fries."

"Then I'll leave things out here to you," Neptune said and took off again, shooting inside the cave.

The cave was your standard RPG dungeon. Rocky walls, bathed in a soft blue luminescent glow from sources unknown. It was fairly linear as well, the few branches that went off from the main passage ended soon after the split, usually at an open chest or a gathering node.

Normally there were monsters in caves such as these, especially one that housed a portal to Viraldustri. But this one didn't appear to have any. That was both good for Neptune, as it allowed her to fly through the cave system quickly and easily, and bad for her, because if the monsters weren't here, that meant they were somewhere else and she didn't want to consider where that somewhere else might be.

Neptune didn't have to wait for long for that answer as she left the tunnel system and appeared in a large circular cavern. There weren't any unique discerning features about the cavern, it dipped in the center and had a few rocky outcroppings and stalactites but that was it.

She also found out where all the monsters had gone. They were all here, gathered in this place, and clustered around two points in the room. One group was in the very center, fighting amongst each other, and the other was near the far exit fighting against someone.

When she saw what the group of monsters in the center of the room were fighting over her breath hitched in her throat.

The group was stomping and stamping around playing tug of war. The object of their conflict? Strands of orange hair, pieces of white cotton fabric, an arm, a leg, half a torso…

"**Argh**!" Neptune roared in fury, her vision going red, as she flashed across the room in an instant. One moment she was standing at the entrance, the next moment she was in the midst of the monsters. The ground cracked and buckled under the force of her movement. The wind split and howled.

And the monsters exploded into a shower of pixels.

Neptune looked down at the remains of her friend, Compa. What was left of her head had a look of absolute shock and disbelief etched into it. Neptune could tell by the look on her face, and the injuries on her ruined body, that it hadn't been the monsters that had ended her.

But she couldn't mourn yet. There was still fighting going on, There was another group of monsters to destroy. She could hear the sound of labored breathing, often accompanied by the crackle of fire, the impact of metal on flesh, and an explosion of pixels. Someone was still fighting.

Again the ground shook and quaked as Neptune thundered across the cavern, covering the distance in a split second. The air screamed as her blade flashed a hundred times. Spaces of empty void opened up and collapsed, causing shockwaves to ripple outwards.

The viral monsters stood no chance against Neptune's fury.

Neptune rushed over to her IF's side, catching her before she had a chance to collapse in exhaustion. She eased the brunette to the ground, propping her body up on her own.

"Thanks… Nep…." IF sounded so tired, as if it was a struggle just to stay awake.

Or even alive.

IF's injuries were horrific. Her left arm and shoulder had been sheared off and there were countless cuts, bites, and bruises all over her body. It was amazing that she had managed to live this long. Even her status screen stated that she should be dead. Both her HP and SP were completely empty.

Neptune couldn't help but suppress a shudder at the sight of her oldest friend. "Hush, I'll save you," The purple haired Goddess said as she quickly dug through her inventory for a Nep Bull EX II.

IF placed her one remaining hand over Neptune's, stopping her, "it's… too late for me… Nep, save it," IF whispered in a weak voice, as if it was too difficult to speak any louder.

IF knew she was gone, the Nep Bull, while very good, couldn't restore lost limbs, and she had lost too much blood. There wasn't any HP to restore anymore, no SP either. Noire had taken her arm and sic'd an army of viral monsters on her. Her levels had steadily drained away until there had been nothing left. She had only kept on fighting through sheer force of will. Praying that keeping the monsters at bay would be enough to let Nepgear survive Noire and get away.

There was nothing left inside her to heal.

"No! I'm not losing you too!"

"Noire… she's… after Nepgear…" IF croaked out, she had to get Neptune moving. If she waited too long she was going to lose her sister as well.

Neptune's blood ran cold. She couldn't lose her little sister, not after all this, not after losing Compa, not after all the death she had seen across her nation. She gently set IF against a small outcropping of rocks and placed the Nep Bull into her lap, despite her weak protests.

"Don't you dare die on me IF!" Neptune said fiercely before she jumped back into the air and blasted through the exit of the cavern.

"It… was fun… Nep…" IF whispered in a barely audible voice. Her eyes slowly closed, too heavy to keep open any longer. Sleep seemed to beckon to her, like a mother's warm embrace. She wanted to resist but the pull was just too strong.

There was something IF wanted to say, needed to say, but she no longer had the strength, and Neptune was long gone. There was a critical weakness in the HDD forms of the CPU's, one that their enemy had finally learned to exploit. Humans were immune, but the CPU's, by their nature, were not. It was something they should have expected long ago.

CPU's, in the HDD forms, could be infected by the viral virus. It could take them over, corrupt them, change them, like it did the monsters they fought. A virus could adapt over time, and this one had. Instead of simply sealing the HDD transformation like it used to…

It subverted them.

"Be careful… Noire… has gone… viral…"

IF let out one last shuddering breath, and went still.

The Nep Bull slipped off her lap and rolled across the rocky ground, stopping when a foot was gently placed upon it.

**~o~**

She was too late.

The battle between Nepgear and Noire was over.

Nepgear was on her knees, her head pulled painfully back. Her beam saber off in the distance, split down the center. Her suit was completely ruined, she was covered in bruises and lacerations, both her legs were broken, the left hacked off just below the knee, her arms were bent and twisted in unnatural directions and a plain-looking, blood stained sword protruded from her chest, straight through her heart.

It was the cursed blade, Gehaburn, in its unfinished form. The blade that absorbed the souls and power of any CPU it slew. The last time Neptune had seen it had been when the four CPUs had locked it away in a vault none of them could open alone.

Standing behind Nepgear, with a fist full of her sister's hair in one hand, and the sword that was stealing her life in the other, was none other than Noire. A look of absolute superiority etched on her darkened features.

And the portal to Viraldustri served as an ominous backdrop.

Nepgear coughed up some of blood, "Sis…" she choked out in a pain filled voice. Her eyes were filled with pain and confusion.

Noire twisted the blade.

Nepgear screamed in agony for a brief moment and went silent. She slumped forward as Noire let go of her hair. She slid off the blade with a sickening squelch. Neptune could only watch on in horror as her little sister's HDD form shattered into a million tiny particles and was sucked up by the blood-stained blade.

Nepgear was dead.

Noire causally kicked Nepgear's empty body, sending it flying across the room where it slammed into the wall with bone breaking force.

Neptune's face slowly twisted into one of pure rage, "Noire!" Neptune roared in fury.

Noire laughed as Neptune lunged at her. Her sword, the large one she normally wielded, was quickly brought up to meet Neptune's. A shockwave rippled out from the point of contact and the ground cratered beneath the force of the strike.

"How does it feel to lose everyone you care about, Neptune?" Noire hissed in pleasure, there was a sick and twisted grin on her face.

If Neptune had been in full control of her mental facilities she might have noticed the fact that Noire looked nothing like she once did. Her eyes glowed with a malevolent red light and her once pearly skin was now a deep grey, almost black, color. Her once beautiful platinum locks that flowed down her back were now green twisted snarls.

But after the death of Code, Compa, IF, and the person she cared about the most, her sister, she wasn't in the right frame of mind and had little appetite to form any coherent thoughts beyond wanting to shove her blade so far up Noire's ass she'd be spitting out metal for the rest of her very short life. What made things worse was the feeling of betrayal that welled up from deep within her. Noire was the last person she thought would have ever strike down her allies.

"Why!? Why would you kill them!? We were finally about to end this war!" Neptune shouted at Noire as she struggled against the other CPU. She fought against a wave of tears with an even large surge of anger and rage.

The smile Noire gave Neptune was anything but sweet, "That's the whole point Neptune! I can't allow this war to end, not until you're eliminated. I need Planeptune crushed, destroyed, so that you can't threaten my people ever again. You were always the 'main character.' You always had everything, people loved you simply because you existed, whereas I had to work every day, all day, just to keep Lastation afloat!" Noire's smile became positively vicious, "but if you were to die here and the portal closed? Your death, and the death of your friends, could be written off as a glorious sacrifice to save all of Gamindustri… and then Planeptune will die and I will no longer have to play second fiddle to you."

Neptune's anger flared even higher. She too had to work hard for her shares as well. In the past she could just laze around and do nothing but ever since Arfoire that was no longer enough. She had to work just as hard as any of the other CPUs since then. "So you're killed everyone and wish to destroy Planeptune because you're jealous? Because you don't want to work for your shares?"

Noire's smile spread so wide it looked down right alien, "Yes."

That single word destroyed all rational thought within Neptune. She attacked Noire in blind rage, her swings coming in fast and hard. The air screamed and the ground shook with every strike.

And Noire met her blow for blow. Dancing around the wild swings of the enraged CPU. Neptune was the strongest of all the CPUs naturally, even with her weakened nation she was a match for Noire, however due to the blind rage that she was in, with her rational thought consumed by anger, she was easy pickings.

She over-extended herself, wasted a lot of energy on blows that Noire saw coming a mile away, and telegraphed her every attack. Noire could finish her in an instant.

Instead she played with her, savoring that last few moments before she ended her greatest rival. She continued to flow around the strikes, allowing Neptune to expend incredible amounts of energy tearing huge gouges in the unoffending floors and walls.

And amidst the fight, neither of the CPU's noticed the portal close on its own.

After a time, Noire grew bored of watching Neptune flail around mindlessly. It was amusing to see such a normally level headed and mature individual lose it. But Noire had places to be, and a few select individuals to cull, before the end of the day.

"You can't beat me like that, Neptune," Noire said as she dodged another errant strike, this put her back to the entrance. She brought her sword up and readied the strike that would take Neptune's life. "It ends here."

Noire lashed out.

The blade flashed through the air.

The sound of tearing flesh resounded through the room.

Blood splattered across the floor.

"W-What…" Noire said in disbelief as she grasped weakly at the large two-handed sword that was jutting through her chest, her own sword clattered harmlessly to the floor.

Her eyes widened even more as she recognized the blade. She turned her head and looked over her shoulder. There, standing ten feet away with her arms stretched before her as if she had just thrown a great weight, was none other than Falcom. She had hurled her sword, the Dragonslayer.

And it had struck true, tearing through Noire's chest before she could strike the finishing blow on Neptune.

The look of shock was still on Noire's face when Neptune's sword cleaved her head from her shoulders. Noire's head flew through the air, bounced off the floor twice and rolled the rest of the way to the far wall.

Noire's HDD form shattered into a million pieces and her headless body, now back in its human form, slumped to the ground, a large pool of blood began to spread out from the ruined body. The shattered fragments were quickly sucked up into Gehaburn, the cursed blade.

Falcom slowly entered the cavern, watching Neptune carefully as the purple haired Goddess slowly regained control of her breathing, and her senses. Falcom was in total shock, not only due to the events that had just occurred, but due to her own actions. She had struck down a Goddess, even if that Goddess had been trying to kill her own.

Falcom took hold of her greatsword and pulled it from Noire's corpse. She made sure to carefully wipe off the blood before she put it back into her inventory. There was no telling what Noire's viral blood would do to it.

"Neptune… what are you going to do now?" Falcom asked in total bewilderment. She was completely at a loss how to handle this. Code, IF, Compa, and even Nepgear, they were all dead. Noire too, by Neptune's hands.

No matter what occurred from here on out, Gamindustri would never be the same.

"What am I going to do?" Neptune asked, her voice heavy with grief and anger. She glanced over at Nepgear's fallen form and then back at Falcom, her eyes flashed deep red for a brief moment. "I'm going to burn Lastation to the ground!"

**x~X~x**

**Back in the present day…**

**In a place that may or may not be the same Gamindustri as the previous scene…**

**But is at least the same Gamindustri as the previous chapter…**

"Grr, how hard can it be to find her?" IF shouted loudly as she threw her arms into the air in frustration. Her voice bounced off the walls and echoed around the room. She paced across the floor of Noire's sanctuary in the Basilicom. It was the same room that they had scaled up into when they had asked Noire to come with them to R-18 Island almost three weeks past.

They had been here for almost three days now, working hard to find Neptune. Surprisingly enough the ship managed to make it all the way to Port Hole, although it sank the moment they got it moored to the dock.

It almost took the dock with it when it dropped to the bottom of the underground lake.

Thankfully making it to Port Hole had placed them within four days of Lastation by foot and they had made good time back. Falcom even managed to get away without having to pay the insurance claim on the ship since she actually managed to dock it before it sank. That made it not her responsibility since the ship technically did make it to port.

"Iffy… I'm sure everyone is trying their hardest, we all miss Nep-Nep too," Compa said comfortingly from the center of the room where she was watching IF dig a trench in the floor with her pacing.

"That's not it!" IF said angrily, "Nep is a walking disaster waiting to happen! How hard can it be to find someone like that? Someone should have heard something by now!" IF didn't want to admit how worried she was. When dealing with Neptune, quiet was a bad thing. Quiet meant something was very wrong, she didn't like things being quiet around Neptune.

And that was all they had gotten since they had returned to Lastation's Basilicom three days ago: Absolute silence. Oh there were plenty of things going on in Gamindustri, but nothing that had Neptune's special kind of crazy associated with it.

IF cursed herself almost as much as she did the storm and Neptune. Who tied themselves to the mast like that during a major ocean storm? She should have stopped Neptune before she had even finished tying the knot.

"We'll find her," Noire said, looking up from the papers in front of her to give IF a once-over. Noire was almost buried in a pile of paper work. She had said most of it was simply catching up on the work she had missed while on vacation but anyone could see that the majority of it were reports of incidents that occurred within Lastation and abroad. Noire looked back down at the report she was reading and threw her arms up in exasperation and let a sigh of frustration escape from her lips. The sudden movement caused a brief wardrobe malfunction, which a hidden camera that was zoomed in on her bust managed to pick up. "Neptune is too stupid to die. And even if she did die, hell would probably get fed up with her and kick her out within a week anyways," Noire continued saying, unaware of the hidden cameras in her office.

The elevator dinged and Uni stepped out of the elevator. "Umm… Noire, I have the last of the documents…" she said hesitantly as she slowly made her way across the room to Noire's desk with an arm full of papers.

The hidden camera quickly shifted from Noire to Uni. It began to track her movements across the room like a hawk watching its prey.

"Just put them there," Noire said as she pointed at a stack of papers to her side, not even sparing Uni a glance as she concentrated on dealing with the mountain of papers she currently had.

"R-right…" Uni stuttered, a little sad about being all but ignored by Noire. "I-is there anything more I can do to help?" There wasn't anything for her to do after this and she wanted to be of use.

"No."

"Oh… ok," Uni said, now thoroughly depressed. She turned and slowly made her way back towards the elevator.

Noire picked up on Uni's mood and glanced over at the young girl. She bit her lip. Perhaps she was a bit too abrupt with the young girl. And she did have way more work than she could handle by herself, not that she would ever admit that aloud of course, she had a reputation to uphold.

"Uni, wait," Noire said, stopping the young girl in her tracks.

"Yes, Noire?"

"You're not done with those documents, take them over there and go over them for me, I need someone at least a little reliable to go deal with them," Noire said as she pointed at the stack of reports Uni had brought in. While Noire pored over the reports of incidents in the area looking for Neptune, Uni could handle the day-to-day activities.

Noire trusted her to do a good job with that. Of course she wouldn't ever admit that either.

The smile on Uni's face could have lit up the darkest of nights. "Yes!" she said happily as she rushed back to the table and grabbed the stack of documents she had just placed there. For Noire to even admit that she was a 'little' reliable was like anyone else saying they trusted someone absolutely. It was the first compliment Noire had ever given Uni.

"You better do at least as good a job as I would do," Noire warned Uni sternly as she watched the small girl race over towards one of the nearby desks.

"Yes! Of course," Uni replied, stopping to spin in place and give Noire a wide smile before she continued on towards the nearby desk.

Noire coughed and looked away, slightly embarrassed by Uni's enthusiastic display of affection. She didn't think showing such a minor bit of encouragement would cause that much of a reaction. She went back to the report she was going over and sighed. She tossed it to the side, adding it to the already enormous pile beside her.

"Still nothing?" IF asked.

"Still nothing…" Noire trailed off as the elevator dinged again and Kei stepped off it. There was a rather serious expression on her that immediately caught Noire's attention. Kei was always serious, but she seemed far more than usual.

"Lady Noire," Kei greeted her goddess respectfully with short bow.

"What is it Kei?" Noire asked, steeling herself as she prepared for the worst.

"There is a call, from Planeptune," Kei said as she approached Noire's desk. She held out a communication device, a small star shaped holographic projector that would display an image above it, for Noire to accept.

The blood drained from the faces of Noire and IF. Neither of them were looking forward to telling Histoire that they'd managed to lose her CPU. Falcom had a rather nervous grin on her face and Compa looked as she always did, Historie's temper never really bothered Compa. Histoire was famous throughout all Gamindustri for said temper. She used to be a good natured individual, but Neptune could try the patience of a saint. As a result Histoire's nerves and temper were usually pulled taut, ready to snap at a moment's notice.

"Ah, thank you, Kei," Noire said as she gingerly accepted the device from her Oracle. Noire glanced over at IF and Compa, her eyes pleading to them to stand beside her so that she didn't have to take the brunt of what was to come.

IF let out a resigned sigh and walked over to the desk with Compa following close behind. If they were going to do this, they might as well get it over with. The longer they waited, the more 'Pisty' as Neptune put it, Histoire would become.

Noire cleared a small space on her desk and set the device down in the center of it. She clicked a small button between two of the points of the star shaped device. There was a small humming sound as the device turned on and a moment later the image of Histoire appeared above the device. Due to her small size she was able to get her entire body in the image, which was blue-shifted due to the technology used. The image flickered and shifted for a moment, as if some sort of connection was interfering with it, but it stabilized soon.

"Ah, Noire, how are you today?" Histoire asked as she greeted Noire cordially.

Noire swallowed hard and gave Histoire her best smile, "I'm doing good, Histoire, what can I do for you today?"

"Ah, yes, do you happen to know where Neptune and the others are?" Histoire asked, her head was tilted slightly and she had a finger on her cheek as she looked at Noire curiously. "You see, Neptune was scheduled to return to Planeptune within two weeks. I have already contacted the authorities at R-18 Island and they mentioned that she departed over a week ago. That is plenty of time to return home."

"W-Well, you know Neptune, she's always wondering off to do her own thing," Noire said and let out a nervous laugh.

"Yes, I am well aware of Neptune's tendencies to get side tracked by every butterfly that flutters past her," Histoire agreed with Noire. Neptune was the poster child for ADD. "However IF and Falcom should have been with her. They would have kept her going in the right direction."

The aforementioned individuals blanched and looked as if they wanted to be anywhere but right there at that moment in time.

"I see, w-well I-I think you should ask IF and Falcom," Noire said as she turned the communication device around so that the camera on it was facing the two women on the other side of her desk.

Falcom instantly looked at IF as if to say that IF had the answers Histoire was looking for. Falcom, while well known, was just a stock adventuress. IF was the one that was closest to Neptune and Histoire out of the three of them. Compa had wisely decided to stay as far away from the desk as possible.

The brunette glanced at Falcom and Noire and let out a long sigh, "traitors…" she whispered just low enough for Histoire to miss but for the other two to hear. She shook her head and steeled her heart. The best way to handle this was to just get it over with.

"Neptune is missing."

Noire's jaw dropped and she gave IF a look as if asking her if she was completely crazy. IF hadn't even bothered to sugar coat it, she just flat out said it.

Histoire twitched once, violently, before she regained her composure. "Could you please define, 'missing' for me, IF?" the tiny fairy asked in a small voice that seemed on the verge of erupting.

IF swallowed and plowed on ahead, knowing full well the explosion to come. "You know Falcom's luck, our ship was hit by a powerful storm on the way back," IF began. Falcom winced at the mention of her luck. There was no doubt that Falcom would be blamed at least a little for Neptune's disappearance now. It was her turn to give IF a betrayed look. "We all decided to grab onto something tied down, or tie ourselves down, Neptune decided to tie herself to the ship's mast… but not tight enough to remain on the deck." Histoire twitched again, this time a little more violently than before. She could already see where this story was heading. "she was picked up and whirled around the mast. If that was all it would have been fine but then the lightning tornado came, swept her up, and carted her off to… well… we don't know where yet, but we're looking for her."

Histoire's small body shook violently and a trail of blood began to leak from her mouth because her teeth were clenched so tightly, "Why did no one stop her?" Histoire asked in a terse voice, as if it was taking all her will power not to erupt and throw a rage induced fit. "You all know what Neptune is like!"

"I tried, but the tornado came before I could reach her, sorry," IF apologized.

"And why did no one else try to stop her?"

"I was steering the ship! The captain had fallen overboard," Falcom said quickly to defend herself, conveniently leaving out the part where SHE had been the one to throw the captain over board.

"And what about you Noire?" Histoire asked in a deceptively calm voice. The customs manager Histoire had spoken with at R-18 Island had mentioned their party had consisted of several individuals, including a random NPC and Noire. Histoire didn't expect anything from a random NPC, they existed for comedy relief, quickly come, and quickly disposed of. But Noire was a completely different story. She should have easily been able to fly up in her HDD form to grab Neptune.

"I..." Noire trailed off.

It wasn't _really_ her fault that Neptune decided to tie herself to a mast in the middle of a raging ocean storm, get whipped around the ship like a rag doll, sucked up by a lightning tornado, and carried off to the edge of the world.

She hadn't done a whole lot to stop it either, though. And that was probably enough for Histoire.

"I'm looking for her right now, I have every available resource put forth into finding Neptune," Noire said as she tried her best to cover herself. She didn't really have anything to defend herself with, aside from simply blaming Neptune for being Neptune.

Some would say that she was putting forth too much effort in trying to find what, ultimately was, a rival. Neptune, despite everything, was still in direct competition with Noire for the shares of Gamindustri. However this wasn't how Noire wanted to win her battles. When she triumphantly stood at the top of Gamindustri, she wanted to have earned her place, not simply gotten lucky because of a freak storm and an errant lightning tornado.

And it might also have just a little bit to do with the fact that Neptune considered her a friend. But just a little bit, it was most definitely NOT the main reason why she was putting forth so much effort into finding her frien… erm, rival.

Histoire stared at Noire for a long time, making the dark haired Goddess feel rather uncomfortable. Sweat began to bead on her face and she wondered if she had said something wrong.

The tension broke when the small fairy Oracle of Planeptune let out a long, drawn out sigh. "I'm going to strangle Neptune when she gets back," Histoire muttered angrily, her little hands making choking motions in the air in front of her. She wasn't serious, and everyone knew that, Histoire's hands were much too small to wrap around Neptune's neck. However Neptune was in for one hell of a lecture when she was returned home.

That was fine with Noire, just so long as it wasn't _her_ on the receiving end of Histoire's temper.

"I plan to give Neptune a piece of my mind as well! Making us worry like this over her! Who does she think she is?" Noire said, voicing a similar course of action as Histoire. This much worrying was not good for her, and it was taking away from her ability to help her people.

But she couldn't leave Neptune alone, she just couldn't.

"Yes, of course but only _after_ I finish with her," Histoire said with a slight nod of her head. Perhaps getting it from two people will help make the severity of her actions stick in Neptune's head for longer than five minutes. It was asking for a lot but Histoire hoped that after all this, she had earned at least that much. "Have you found anything of interest so far?" the small oracle asked Noire, wondering if she had been able to find any clues or leads as of yet.

Noire sighed and shook her head, "I have found some odd reports here and there, but nothing that could pertain to Neptune, at least nothing in the vicinity of where she disappeared."

"I thought you said you had nothing?" IF asked curiously as her eyes roamed up and down the stack of papers.

"Not nothing, just nothing about Neptune. There's a child molester running rampant in Lowee, apparently it's a big deal there as any girl under the age of fourteen is disappearing, only to reappear completely…" Noire shuddered slightly as she remembered the descriptions that had been provided in the reports. "Well, let's just say they're all still in the mental wards going through post-traumatic stress disorder. They all seem to have an intense fear of tongues for some reason. The moment someone opens their mouths they collapse into quivering balls of fear."

"That wouldn't happen to Neptune," IF murmured. Neptune was usually the one traumatizing OTHERS, not the one being traumatized. Besides, even if she did look like a little girl, she was more than strong enough to take care of herself, especially once she transformed.

"And Neptune, according to what you said, was carted southwards in a tornado, she would not be up in Lowee." Histoire added with a slight lit in her voice, making her statement sound like a question.

Noire nodded, "Yes, and then there's also been reports of an increased viral infection in western Planeptune, again something that's too far away, and a bit too serious, for Neptune to be involved in any way."

Neptune was silly and crazed to a fault, but threaten her nation, like 'truly' threaten her nation, and she became more businesslike than even Noire. She wouldn't hesitate to throw herself into harm's way to protect her people. If she was anywhere near Planeptune there would already be news of her fighting the viral attack.

"Yes, I have heard reports of that as well," Histoire said, which wasn't surprising as Histoire knew everything there was to know about Planeptune. Histoire knew everything in general, being omniscient. However her omniscience came with a cast bar. A three day long cast-bar in which she couldn't be disturbed otherwise it would interrupt it and she'd have to start over. "It's nothing to worry about though. It's still not at the level where we should be alarmed."

IF frowned as she heard that, there was something wrong with that. Her eyes suddenly widened as she realized, "What about Neverlan, Mate and Otome? They should have been out in the west investigating…"

"I have no information on them, IF, I can look if you are truly concern," Histoire said. IF opened her mouth to ask just that when Histoire continued on, "but only after you've brought Neptune home." IF winced, that was Histoire alright. She'd probably sit on the information until IF fetched Neptune, not that she could really blame her.

"Histoire, couldn't you just use your book to find Neptune?" IF asked suddenly, pointed at the book that Histoire was sitting on.

"I intend to, after this conversation. However as you know it takes me three days to find anything in here," Histoire said as she gently patted the open book she was sitting in.

"We'll keep looking in the mean-time, it seems like things are starting to get serious over in Planeptune," Noire said.

"Good, contact me if you find Neptune," Histoire said, and with that the communication ended and the holographic display stopped.

Noire flopped back in her chair and let out a long sigh of relief. She hadn't realized just how tense she had been while speaking with Histoire. For someone so tiny, she sure had an incredible force of presence.

"Is there anything I can do to help you, Lady Noire?" Kei asked as she collected the communication device.

"Can you look into how, and why, Port Hole was hacked? I also want to know the extent of the damages caused. It looks like I'm going to be buried in this for a while," Noire said as she waved her hand at the large stack of papers on her desk.

"Of course," Kei said without question and headed back towards the elevator.

"The three of you might as well make yourselves useful, I'm not going through all this on my own, she's your Goddess," Noire said as she glanced between IF, Falcom and Compa. "Take a stack and start looking."

IF shook her head and grabbed the nearest stack of papers from the desk. There was an amused smile on her face as she moved to an empty section of the floor. Noire never changed, she was too proud to simply come out and ask for help, so she made the request for aid sound like she was berating them for being lazy.

IF could only hope that that Neptune was still alive. It was a possibility that no one wanted to entertain, but still existed never-the-less. Neptune was a Goddess, but she wasn't indestructible. She could have been killed, either by the tornado, the fall, or even by drowning afterwards.

They could only hope and pray that they found her soon. Because the longer it took to find anything, the less likely that she was still alive.

**~o~**

"Hmm hmm hmm, oh my lovely Noire, how I love to see you squirm and struggle so," a pink colored robot said in an effeminate voice as he hugged himself and whirled around on the wheelie chair he was sitting in.

He was Anonydeath, the anonymous master hacker that could break into any system! Provided he actually cared enough about the system to break into it. Although he was the greatest, no one knew he was here, no one even knew he existed. Aside from one particular annoyance that was almost as good as he was at hacking into other targets.

There were countless monitors set up in his private office. Each monitor was linked to a single camera that he had painstakingly set up in Noire's Basilicom. They were everywhere; he had a dozen in her main office, half of which were focused on her from various angles. He had two dozen in her private quarters and three in her bath.

He even had several mobile cameras that followed Noire around everywhere she went. Watching her expression at Casino Nightingale when he rigged the slot machines for his dear Noire had been positively delicious, watching her squirm under the scrutiny of the Casino Owner and his body guards even more so.

Ah, he'd have to set up more situations like that in the future. Noire was just too cute to leave alone.

"But what to do about her…" Anonydeath murmured to himself as he stared at one screen in particular, this screen was a video feed of a camera that followed Uni around. "It wasn't my task to find her for that boorish man… what to do, what to do. It would be easy enough to eliminate her. She's not a CPU, she has no training…" the pink robot's fingers hovered over a series of buttons on the console to his right, "all I need to do is press this button and Uni will die…"

"But!" Anonydeath said with a grin, moving his fingers away from the buttons, "I think I can use her to get even more delectable expressions from my dear, lovely, Noire. I better do what I can to keep her a secret. Holding her life in the palm of my hand is kind of exciting!"

He had helped Pirachu hack into the Port Hole systems so he knew what sort of spyware had been embedded into Lastation's systems. He had also modified them as well. Lastation and its systems belonged to him, not some outsider. Noire was his to torment and tease, no one else's. He'd only let the information he wanted dribble out to that boorish leader of the villains.

And he'd definitely kept the more risqué and delicious videos and images to himself.

**x~X~x**

An eruption of water exploded off the coast of a certain island nation. A dark form shot out of the explosion of water, dragging behind it a bundle of purple and white. The two figures flew gracefully through the air, or rather it would be more accurate to say the dark figure flew gracefully, Neptune's prone form just flapped in the wind.

The dark figure twisted in mid-air and pulled Neptune's small form into his arms just in time for the landing on the beach. Contrary to the violent eruption from the water, his landing made not a sound, and disturbed nary a grain of sand.

"You certainly are a handful, aren't you Neptune?" The mysterious figure said with an amused, affectionate look on his face as he gently laid Neptune down on the soft sand of the beach.

Neptune was completely soaked from head to toe, her hoody looked as if it clung to her skin very uncomfortably. What's more, she had drowned. The fall from the lightning tornado had knocked all the air out of her lungs and caused her to black out, which also had the unfortunate side effect of causing her to swallow an enormous amount of water.

Currently she wasn't breathing, which was generally a bad thing.

The mysterious figure didn't know what to do, saving Neptune was critical, but he didn't want to get too involved this early.

There was still the random possibility that someone would come around and save Neptune even if the dark figure left her here. Neptune was the main character after all. Plot devices would see to it that she would live until the end of the story, or at least until the most opportune time to kill her off arrived. Dying alone on a random beach wasn't nearly an epic enough death for someone like Neptune to be subjected to.

The dark figure sighed in exasperation. He couldn't just leave Neptune here like this.

The dark, mysterious figure knelt down beside Neptune and grabbed the zipper to her hoody. "I might as well take advantage of her while I can…" The dark figure said as he unzipped her soaked top. He stopped halfway down and winced, that sounded really bad, even to him. He was just glad no one was around to hear it.

Pulling the zipper down all the way he carefully peeled it off her body and set it to the side. Typical of Neptune she wasn't wearing anything underneath aside from a pair of purple and white stripped panties. He grabbed the light beams that had hurriedly tried to cover Neptune and crushed them in his hands. He wouldn't let a pair of lewd light beams wrap themselves around his Neptune. Besides, it's not like there was anything to really cover in Neptune's normal, human form. She was almost as flat as board, the gentle swells on her chest, while far from unpleasant to look at, were rather insignificant.

Pushing the thought, and image, of her breasts from his mind he looked her over, checking for any signs of injuries. He let out a sigh of relief when he realized that there wasn't any. There were no other injuries due to the brutal impact with the water. Neptune, if nothing else, had a very durable body. Out of anyone in Gamindustri she was the one most likely to come away from a fall unscathed. She fell so often she no longer needed a parachute to sky dive.

The mysterious figure placed a hand in the gentle valley between Neptune's small breasts.

"Forced Evolution." A powerful pulse of unknown energy shot into Neptune's chest.

The purple haired goddess was suddenly enveloped in a bright light. Her body morphed and changed, growing and maturing. Interestingly enough the wet hoody that the dark figure had set to the side started to glow as well. When the light died down, Neptune was in her HDD form.

The dark figure blinked in surprise.

"That… was unexpected…" he said to himself as he stared at Purple Heart's naked body. The only thing she was wearing where her gauntlets and her thigh high boots. Her skin tight body suit was lying off to the side where the hoody had once been. "I thought…" he shook his head and let out another sigh, "well I suppose she's never transformed before without having some form of cover on her top."

He would definitely need to hightail it out of here after he was finished reviving her. Neptune in her human form would probably laugh this off. Neptune in her HDD form would probably try to castrate him.

Which reminded him, he still needed to save Neptune.

The dark figure bent over Neptune's face, tilted her head back, pinched her nose, and placed his lips against hers. He breathed deeply into her mouth twice, causing her chest to rise with each breath.

He raised his head and placed his hands between in the valley between her now ample breasts and began chest compressions.

"1, 2, 3… 28, 29, 30."

Still nothing.

He began again, pinching Neptune's nose, breathing into her lungs, and then started another set of chest compressions.

It was the fourth set of breaths into Neptune's mouth that the purple haired CPU responded. With a choking gasp Neptune coughed up a large amount of water. The mysterious figure quickly turned Neptune on her side and gently rubbed her back. Neptune continued coughing for several minutes, spitting less and less water out each time until there wasn't anything left to bring up.

Suddenly the dark figure sensed an approaching individual. He recognized who it was. He had to leave, quickly. They would definitely take care of Neptune from here on, and it was probably best if Neptune awoke to a female face than a male one, especially considering her state of undress.

But before he left he needed to do something.

Gently rolling Neptune back onto her back he placed his lips over hers once more. This was the reason he had transformed her, this had to be done in her HDD transformation because it wouldn't have any effect if it was done to her in her human form.

Instead of breathing air into her like before, or even really kiss her, he injected a bit of himself into her. A long string of golden code left his mouth and entered hers, merging with her HDD transformation, changing it, adjusting Neptune.

He broke the lip lock and quickly stood up. There wasn't enough time to get the entire code sequence into her, but half would do for now. He just hoped having only half of it inside wouldn't cause any adverse effects. Broken code had a way of causing problems.

"Who…?" Neptune groaned as her eyes flittered open.

Shit, even half had taken too long. He had to leave, now. The mysterious figure turned and flew into the air, disappearing into the horizon before Neptune had a chance to see his face.

"Who… was that?" she asked weakly as she watched the dark figure disappear into the horizon. Whoever it was, they were fast, and they had saved her life. She could still feel the dampness inside her throat and lungs, feel the wet sand beside her on her cheek. She knew what that meant, she had nearly drowned and someone had resuscitated her.

She wanted to go after them, to thank them, but she was still too weak from the near death experience. Her HP was incredibly low and her SP was nonexistent. She was also very tired. Despite her mind wanting to go after the individual, her body wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep. As her eyes slowly closed once more, just as her consciousness was about to flee from her, she saw someone rush across the beach towards her.

A small girl she didn't recognize, but one of the rare ones that had a super unique description and form.

She even had a name…

Xone.

**x~X~x**

"Hiiii ya!" Nepgear shouted as she swung her beam saber at the man standing before her.

Sparks flew as her blade clashed against his. The two entered a dead-lock as she struggled to bring her saber down upon him. She struggled against her opponent. He was far stronger than her, far stronger than she had ever been. There was little to no hope of her ever beating him, but she wanted to break the skin, at least touch him, before the end.

Sweat poured down her face and her body glistened with sweat, a testament to just how long and how hard she had been struggling in the fight. She wanted to win, she HAD to win. She couldn't take a loss. This was one battle she could not afford to lose.

But it wasn't looking good. Her bodysuit, a white and purple version of Neptune's own that left her thighs and upper arms bare as well as exposing an ample amount of her breasts, was in tatters. It had rips and tears all over it, so much so that Nepgear was afraid that her breasts might spill out of what was left of the bodysuit.

Still, she pressed on. Modesty was something that she couldn't worry about at this moment in time. Modesty was something that she had thrown away years ago; it wasn't something she had been able to afford in the past.

"Close, Nepgear, but not close enough," the man said with a small grin on his face.

"Wait! No! I can do more!" Nepgear cried out in protest.

"Too late!" he said and disappeared. He reappeared ten feet behind Nepgear, his weapon outstretched to the side. A dozen flashes of light ripped around Nepgear as the remains of her bodysuit was shredded to pieces, leaving her wearing nothing more than her long, bicep length gloves and a single boot.

There wasn't a single mark on her flawless, porcelain like skin.

"What the goodness! You always do this to me!" Nepgear cried out frustration and anger. Her arms moved to cover her private areas. Just because she no longer cared about modesty didn't mean she wanted to show _him_ her everything.

Every time they trained he always managed to strip her of her clothing without leaving a single mark behind on her skin. She had yet to so much as touch him, let alone leave behind any sort mark. It was incredibly frustrating, although she did understand why.

His level was almost a full magnitude greater than her own.

It wasn't that she was ungrateful for his help in training. Despite his habit of stripping her down to her birthday suit every time he beat her, his methods worked. He pushed her to her absolute limit, and only then did he finish her off.

Her levels had risen in leaps and bounds as a result. She had been level one at the start, now she was level fifty, and close to fifty-one. His methods worked, and they worked well, she could have just done without having her clothes shredded every fight. Thankfully he seemed to have anticipated this and had nearly an endless supply of spare suits for her.

"At least it's just the two of us out here," he said with a small shrug and gave her a smile.

"That's not the point! Neptune is the one you love!"

"I know, but you'll be my little sister too once I marry her! That gives me the right to tease and embarrass you!"

"What the goodness? That's not fair! I get enough of that from sis already."

His declaration of love for Neptune wasn't just a hollow one either. Nepgear knew, from his actions, both now and back then, just how much he cared about Neptune. Nepgear was probably the only other person willing to go to the extreme lengths that he was to save her sister. She admired that, and hoped that Neptune would as well when she realized all that he had done, and was doing, for her.

That would be his largest challenge in the future. He'd have to convince her sister and Nepgear knew how dense her sister could be when it came to matters of the heart. As honest and open as she was, she was very closed at the same time. She was willing to let everyone in, but only so far. _That_ part of Neptune's heart had never been touched.

"And you'll probably get a lot more in the future," he said with a laugh, "now however, it's time for the penalty game!"

He pulled a pair of black cat ears and a cat tail from his inventory. Nepgear blanched as she looked at the tail.

"Y-You can't be serious…"

"Ah, ah, perhaps next time you'll try hard to hit me," he said as he held up the items.

"W-Where's the rest of it?"

"What do you mean? This is everything…" he trailed off and his eyes widened in realization, "OH! You mean the bottom? Ya, I actually did try to get it but they were out of stock, sorry about that."

"W-What about the top?"

He blinked in surprise, "Oh, I completely forgot about that… " he admitted honestly as he reached into his inventory and pulled out a fur covered bikini top, "I had to go looking for this separately, they were out of stock on the tops as well… just completely forgot about it. Sorry," he said as he gave her an apologetic look as he held out the top for her.

Nepgear whimpered and accepted it grudgingly. While it was better than nothing, the lack of a bottom made her want to pass out in embarrassment considering what the tail was.

This was the incentive that pushed Nepgear as hard as she did. Each time she lost, he made her do something incredibly embarrassing. So embarrassing that if the photos he took of her during the penalty game ever got out she was afraid she'd die of embarrassment. This served to push her even harder since he had promised to hand over all the images and negatives if she ever managed to beat him.

And he always kept his promises, even if he did sometimes interpret what the promise meant a little differently than everyone else.

Her face flaming in embarrassment she took the items from him and held them awkwardly in her hands. The ears were simple enough, just a band that wrapped around her head with a pair of fluffy ears on it. The tail however, was a completely different matter. There was nothing to attach it to her body, but there was a length of large, circular beads at the base of the tail. It didn't take much imagination to guess how 'this' was supposed to attach to her body.

"Do you need help? I could always…"

"N-n-n-n-o!" Nepgear said hastily as she backed up a step. Her face was literally crimson by this point in time. She quickly jammed the ears on the top of her head and positioned the tail behind her.

The quicker she got this over with, the better.

Nepgear had to suppress a shiver as she slipped the first bead into her. They were cool against her warm, super-heated insides. Nepgear wouldn't admit it, ever, but it felt nice and relaxing after having exerted herself so much against him in battle earlier. She slipped a second, and then a third bead into her. It felt so strange, having a foreign object inside her but she pushed on. It wasn't uncomfortable, he had the foresight to prepare the beads ahead of time so that there wasn't any discomfort putting them inside. In fact, it was even starting to feel kind of good.

By the time she slipped the last bead inside her she had to suppress a different kind of shiver.

"T-there… it's in now… w-what the Goodness?!" Nepgear shouted in surprise as she felt a small felt padded collar clip around her neck. The collar had a string attached to it that was attached to a handle in his hands.

"Now we go for a walk!" he said with a brilliant smile on his face.

"B-but…"

"You didn't think the penalty game was JUST wearing a partial cat-girl outfit did you?" he asked with a raised eyebrow. The penalty games got worse and worse each time, and wearing a partial cat-girl outfit didn't come close to what she did last time. It was unfortunate, but he had to make them worse each time, otherwise she'd just become used to it and it couldn't be used as good incentive to push her past her limits.

Nepgear let out a whimper and got on her hands and knees. She slowly began to crawl through the forest making little pitiful whimpering mewls every so often. Every time she heard the camera click and saw a flash of light she flinched. She could only imagine the embarrassment and suffering she would endure if those images ever got out. She'd never live it down. If it weren't for the incredible rate of growth she was seeing, and that there was a great need for her to regain her former strength, she never would have agreed to this.

He walked at her side, using the leash to gently guide Nepgear away from any source of life that he could feel around him. The whole point of this was to give Nepgear incentive to try harder, not put her on display for the world to see. He needed to keep her a secret for as long as possible. _They_ were already moving and if _he_ found out Nepgear was alive, transformed and getting stronger, he'd move on her before she was ready to face him. That was why this training had to be done in secret. They couldn't use the normal method of taking on quests and fighting monsters without running the risk of alerting 'them'.

He couldn't help but grin as he pushed the button on the camera again, taking another 'picture' of Nepgear. He also had to admit, just to himself, that it was fun teasing Nepgear like this. She just had that perfect helpless personality that he just had to mess with.

But he knew not to take it too far, too quickly.

And what Nepgear didn't realize was that there was no SD card, or film, in the camera. There were no negatives to give her, no images to show the world. There had been the first time, of course. He had taken images of the first penalty game, just to give a _convincing_ feel to it. The games hadn't been that bad back then.

But not since then.

He wasn't going to risk ruining Planeptune's reputation by having scandalous images of Nepgear leaked. Embarrassing ones, sure, but the moment things took a more 'R-rated' turn it was too much. He also did care, a little bit, about the mental health of Nepgear. He was going to push her to the edge but he'd never force her over. It was why each game was only slightly worse than the one before. He was building up her resistance to them. She was important to Neptune, and Neptune was important to him. The camera was simply a tool used to motivate, whether the images actually existed or not were irrelevant.

Besides, she'd thank him in the end.

Well, she'd probably thank him after she kicked his ass across Gamindustri a couple times. He was both looking forward to her getting stronger, and at the same time not looking forward to it.

"Only two more hours and then we can break for dinner!" he said cheerfully as he took another 'picture' with his camera.

Nepgear let out another series of mewling whimpers as she continued to let him guide her through the empty forest.


	6. Xone

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hyperdimension Neptunia. All characters, thoughts and ideas that exist in this story that were taken from the original works belong to their creators, Compile Heart and Idea Factory. Only original thoughts and or characters created in this story are my own.**

**Chapter 6: Xone**

The first thing that crossed Neptune's mind as she slowly woke up was that something smelled really good, like someone had baked a fresh apple pie and had left it in the room to just waft. To add to that smell was the scent of freshly washed sheets. It was a pleasant thing to wake to, and it certainly beat the salty smell of the sea and the dry sand that had been the last thing she remembered.

She stretched her arms out above her head, brushing her finger tips against the headboard as she arched her back slightly, working the kinks and stiffness out of her muscles. She relaxed and let out a pleasant sigh as that warm feeling one gets after stretching spread throughout her body.

The purple haired CPU opened her eyes as she slowly sat up to look around. The sheets slid down her body and pooled at her waist to reveal that she wasn't wearing anything beneath the covers. Neptune didn't mind too much, she was far more curious as to where she was, and what the delicious smell was.

Her grumbly stomach made her well aware of just how hungry she really was. It must have been over a week since the last time she had anything to eat, and she was always a good judge on how long it had been since her last meal, a talent that carried over to her in her HDD form from her human one.

Which actually caused Neptune some concern, normally when she lost consciousness she reverted back into her human form so it was strange to see herself still in her HDD form even after falling unconscious. Something had happened, but she didn't 'feel' any different. Putting that thought aside she looked around the room.

It was a simple square room, devoid of most furnishing. Nothing decorated the log walls save for a single window in the north facing wall that let in some light. Similarly the hardwood floor was barren as well, the only furnishings in the room was the bed Neptune was sleeping in tucked in the southeast corner of the room, a small mahogany dresser beside the room's sole entrance in the west wall, and a small beside table by her bed, upon which there WAS a very delicious looking apple pie to go with the equally delicious smell it was emitting.

Her stomach refused to be ignored any longer as it made itself known loud and clear across the land, literally shaking the house with its incessant rumbling for food.

"Alright, alright, hold on, I'll feed you," Neptune said to her stomach and picked up a slice of the pie. Someone had been kind enough to cut it into eight equal sized slices.

The moment she bit into the pie, her taste buds exploded in joyous song. Whoever had cooked the pie wasn't just good, they were amazing. They had created the perfect mouth-watering blend of taste and texture. It was so good that no sooner had Neptune placed the first piece of pie in her mouth that she found the entire thing gone.

She felt a profound sense of disappointment when she realized that it was all gone. While her stomach was now satisfied, her taste buds were not.

"I should see if I can find more," Neptune said as she slid her legs off the side of the bed and stood up, letting the sheets slide off her body and pool into a messy pile on the bed. She gave her body a once over, noting that, aside from the distinct lack of clothing, she was perfectly fine, having come away from her encounter with the lightning tornado and near drowning none-the-worse for wear. "And figure out where I am, but first..."

Neptune glowed with a brilliant purple light for a brief moment and when it was over she was back in her human form, "this is much better! I should figure out where my clothes are though…" Because they weren't in the room or on her body. It didn't even occur to Neptune to check her inventory for a spare set of clothing. Instead she noticed something else… "What happened to my light beams?!"

"…?" the unspoken response hung in the air.

Neptune had been so dismayed by her lack of light beams she hadn't noticed the door open and the arrival of the owner of the house.

"Ya! Light beams! You know, those lewd censorship beams that like to stick to naked lady parts and make men all jealous and stuff that they can't be in their position? You know, those light beams," Neptune said, answering the question she didn't hear because it wasn't spoken, still not noticing the individual at the door because she was too busy peaking under the covers or behind the night stand looking for her errant light beams.

"… who are you?" the voice was low, soft and quiet, as if they were hesitant to speak at all and wanted to get out their intent with as few words as possible.

"NEPUU!" Neptune shouted as she jumped in surprise. She almost smacked her head into the ceiling. She quickly whirled around in mid-air and stared at the newcomer in surprise. "Whoa! People are growing out of the floor!"

"…Door," the newcomer said as she pointed at the open door behind her.

The person in question was a young girl, a little taller than Neptune at 150cm, with vibrant green eyes, long flowing platinum white hair that went down to the middle of her back, and a chest flat enough to be used as a runway. A long sleeveless dress went down to her knees, covering parts of her perfect, porcelain white skin. The dress had a deep V cut in the front, and the back, that went down past her navel, exposing all of her non-existent cleavage and just the faintest of hints a six-pack. There were two deep horizontal cuts on either side of the dress at the hips that almost met in the middle making one wonder how the dress managed to stay in one piece. From the hips down the dress flared out around the young women as it wound its way down to her knees. The bottom of the dress was rimmed with dark green embroidery and was split in the front all the way up to her hips, revealing her toned legs and black lace panties. The dress was made out of two different shades of black. The upper left and bottom right halves of the dress were a glossy black that seemed to shimmer as the fabric moved. The top right and bottom left half of the dress were a dull black color that seemed to absorb all light. On her feet was a pair of dark green sandals with black accents. In her hair were a pair of white, circular pins with a dark green X in the middle of them.

The young girl was definitely an important person, or soon to be, considering the effort put into her character design. In fact, more effort was put into her character design than even Neptune's.

"Are you sure you're not a mole person?"

Of course Neptune being Neptune didn't really clue in on that fact, or what that could mean for the future.

"…Who are you?" the young girl asked, repeating her earlier question.

Neptune stared at the young girl in confusion for a brief moment before realization dawned on her. Neptune wasn't the sharpest knife in the drawer but even she understood what this girl was talking about. She had awoken in her HDD form, that was probably what the young girl thought she looked like. "Oh, you mean the totally bodacious body that was lying in that bed until just now? Ya, that's totally me!" Neptune said with a wide grin on her face as she thrust her small chest out proudly.

The young girl just blinked and stared at Neptune like she had grown a second head. She took one good, long look at Neptune's chest which, while not as flat as her own, was nowhere near the size of the woman she had dragged home, and said one word. "…liar."

"Nepuu!" Neptune said in surprise and took a step back, bumping into the night stand as she did so, causing it to shift a little and bouncing the empty pie tray around. Neptune quickly recovered however and stepped forward again. She thumped her chest proudly and fired a grin at the young girl. "I'll show you!"

There was a flash of purple light and Neptune went through her HDD transformation sequence. The girl's eyes didn't change as she watched Neptune morph into her older, more mature self.

"See? The woman on the bed was me," Neptune said in her deeper voice.

"…I know," the girl said, unfazed by the transformation in the least.

That took her aback. Neptune stared at the young girl in confusion, "but you called me a liar…"

"…clothes," the young girl said as she held up a pile of clothing in her arms.

Neptune hadn't noticed but the young girl had actually been carrying her clothes in her arms. She could see her purple and black body suit in her arms, including her gauntlets, boots, and thigh-high leggings. Neptune reverted back to her human form and watched in fascination as the clothes in the young girl's arms glowed and shifted as well as they, too, returned to the hoody, panties and other assortment of clothing she normally wore in her regular form.

Now it all made sense, it would be impossible to NOT know that Neptune the small and Neptune the large were one and the same when her clothing literally shifted in your arms.

Which meant the girl had totally been trolling her the entire time.

"I was just trolled… by a little girl…" Neptune said to herself in a quiet, dry voice. She quickly brushed off the trolling attempt; she wasn't one to let things affect her for very long. She pointed at her clothes, "thanks for washing my clothes!" the clothes definitely looked clean, cleaner at least than they had been considering all the salt she had gotten on them during the storm, "can I have them back?"

"…jump."

Neptune jumped thinking that maybe there was something on the floor that like a bug or something. However when she looked down in mid-air she saw nothing under her, just plain hardwood. When she landed she gave the young girl a queer look, "why did you ask me to jump?"

"…clothes?"

"You're holding my clothes hostage!" Neptune gasped as the only logical thing in her mind instantly jumped to the forefront.

"...jump," the young girl said again.

"Holy smokes!" Neptune said as she jumped again, "how did I end up in a hostage situation?!"

"…jump."

And so Neptune kept jumping. Every time she made to stop, or it seemed like she had jumped enough, the young girl arched an eyebrow or said that single word once more. Neptune didn't know what to make of this situation. She didn't mind jumping, but being forced to jump on command, in the nude, simply so that she could get dressed seemed just a little bit on the humiliating side.

Even for her.

It wasn't until she had been jumping for an hour that a sudden thought dawned on her.

She had a spare set of clothes in her inventory.

"Hey! Wait just a darn tootin minute here!" Neptune said with an indignant expression on her face and stopped jumping. She pointed at the young girl and a triumphant grin broke out. "Why am I jumping at your beck and call?! I can break free of this hostage situation! I have a spare set of clothes!" she shouted victoriously. She spun in place and became engulfed in a soft, white glow. When the glow ended she was clothed from head to toe in an outfit identical to that of normal outfit, except this one was in monochrome colors.

"…darn," the young girl said with a slight pout on her face, only slightly disappointed she managed to trick Neptune into jumping for an hour.

"She played me! …again," Neptune said, completely aghast at being tricked so easily, and soon, after the last time.

"…were you dropped?" the little girl asked curiously.

"Well, I do have to admit, I AM a sky falling pro! I've fallen like so many times I've earned an achievement for it!" Neptune said with a proud smile on her face.

A look of understanding, filled with more than just a touch of pity, filled Xone's eyes. Neptune's words explained everything. She nodded her head slowly as if coming to a conclusion, "Vert's better," she said. She turned and left the room, but not before setting Neptune's clothes down on the dresser by the door.

"Did she, like, just so totally dismiss me?" Neptune asked the empty room as she stared in absolute shock and amazement at the door the young girl had just gone through. "This is so not right! I'm far cuter than Vert! There's no way such a saggy chested sow is more popular than me!"

Neptune noticed, just in time, a glint of steel accompanied by a flare of killing intent. With a shout Neptune jumped to the side just in time to avoid a dozen kunai that embedded into the wall behind where she had just been.

"Holy crapparoni! I take it back! I take it back!" Neptune said hastily. The killing intent disappeared, and the atmosphere returned to normal. Neptune let out a sigh of relief and wiped off the nervous sweat that had beaded on her forehead. "Note to self, don't insult Vert around her…"

Glancing back at the wall Neptune couldn't help but notice that the kunai were sharp, very sharp. So much so that they'd almost gone THROUGH the wall despite the wall being made out of large oak logs. Keeping any inappropriate comments about Vert to herself was definitely high on her list of things to remember.

"Geez, what kind of back water place did I end up that it has VERT popular—"

She froze as she heard a whistling sound and felt a rush of wind brush past her cheek. There was another thunk has a thirteenth kunai embedded itself in the wall behind her. Neptune clamped her mouth shut and swallowed hard. She'd have to remember that the young girl had very sharp hearing as well. That last bit could barely qualify as a whisper it was so quiet.

Neptune made her way across the room to her clothes, being careful to keep any comment about Vert to herself. Who knew what weird, and strange alternate dimension had landed in where VERT of all people was popular…

A kunai whizzed past her face again.

"I didn't say anything!" Neptune yelped, jumping almost high enough to smash her head off the ceiling in her surprise.

"…made you jump," the quiet voice floated in from the other room.

A large sweat drop rolled its way down the back of Neptune's head as she eyed the entrance warily, watching for any more flying projectiles. She idly wondered just want kind of crazy person had saved her as slowly made her way across the room to the pile of her clothing left on the dresser. Not only did she enjoy making look bad, she apparently had a large collection of sharp, pointy throwing objects.

"OW!" Neptune yelped in pain after reaching for her clothes. There had been a kunai hidden inside those.

"Forgot…" the young girl said as she re-entered the room and pulled out three kunai she had hidden inside Neptune's clothes.

"How many of those sharp pointy painful thingies do you have?" Neptune asked incredulously. Between the fourteen in the wall, and the three in her hands, that was a lot.

The young girl opened the right side of her dress and holstered the three kunai in little sheathes hidden therein. Along with the three holsters for the kunai were another seventeen, all fully stocked.

"Holy smokes! You're a walking armory!"

The young girl shrugged and held her hand up in the air. The fourteen kunai embedded in the far wall wobbled for a moment before they shot out from the wall and returned to her hand as if being summoned. The young girl pushed back the left side of the bottom of her dress and holstered the fourteen kunai in little holsters there. It also gave Neptune a good look at the hundred other kunai hidden there.

Neptune swallowed hard and reminded herself over and over not to make fun of Vert around the young girl, ever, for any reason, unless she wanted to end up turned into a pincushion.

The girl ignored Neptune's stare and calmly left the room like nothing was wrong. Neptune cautiously gathered up her clothing, making sure to double check, and triple check, for any hidden implements of pain, before she hurriedly stuffed the clothing into her inventory. The purple-haired CPU cautiously left the room, making sure to check for booby traps and flying projectiles, the young girl had already shown a perchance of making Neptune jump just for the hell of it.

Finding nothing out of place Neptune finally left the room she had awoken in and entered the rest of the house, which turned out to be only two other rooms, one of which was a bathroom with basic amenities. The room Neptune found herself in now was a combination between a kitchen, dining room and living room, with an assortment of their respective furnishings. The general makeup of the place was similar to the room she had left, hardwood floors and log walls. It did have several more windows in the various walls that let in more light than the single one in the bedroom beyond.

There were only a few unique elements in the room. One was a long, plush couch that was covered with a bunch of messy sheets and a pillow, it was easy to tell that the young girl had been sleeping there the whole time Neptune had been in her bed. The other unique elements were a series of round, red and white, targets scattered across the room and three large, concentric circles in the middle. From the holes in the targets the young girl obviously spent a great deal of time practicing her accuracy.

A _great_ deal of time considering most of the hits had been dead center and the few that weren't were in the inner most circle.

The young girl was, even now, standing in the middle of the inner most circle in the very center of the room. She seemed to be concentrating on the targets scattered throughout the room.

"So, ah, thank you," Neptune said as she bowed her head a little. She may be stupid and childish sometimes, but even she knew to be thankful when the situation called for it. Despite playing with her and throwing sharp, pointy instruments of death at her, she had taken care of Neptune at her own expense.

"… didn't save you," the young girl said and exploded into motion. She jumped and spun, doing a flip in mid-air while spinning. Dozens of kunai whipped out from her spinning form, hurtling across the room in every direction.

Neptune quickly covered her face with her arms as the kunai whipped past her as well. A few moments later the blade storm died down and Neptune felt it was safe enough to peek out from behind the cover of her arms.

"You have GOT to teach me how to do that!" Neptune said as she looked around the room excitedly. The young girl had hit her targets, all of them, dead on, with pin-point accuracy. She even managed to curve half of her kuani around corners to hit the targets that were outside of her direct line of sight.

It was very impressive.

"… mine," the young girl said as she shook her head negatively.

"Oh…" Neptune said with a pout. This would be an amazing party trick she'd have been able to show IF, Noire and the others when she got back. An earlier thought tickled the back of Neptune's mind, "what do you mean you didn't save me?"

"… someone else," the young girl said with a shrug and then pointed at the single bedroom of the house, "… place to sleep, washed clothes."

"Oh, so…" a memory came rushing back, one she had forgotten. The feel of soft lips on her own, the gentle hands on her back as someone eased the water out of her lungs, the dark shadow hovering above her face, and the retreating form of someone leaving very quickly. "I wonder who that was…"

The young girl shrugged and said nothing. She knew as much about the identity of the stranger as Neptune did, which was to say absolutely nothing. She didn't even know if they were male or female, the heavy cloak that covered and shadowed their every feature prevented an easy identification.

"Whoever they were! They stole my first kiss!" Neptune cried out indignantly.

"… saved life."

"Oh ya…"

"…" the young girl stared at Neptune with pity in her eyes, wondering what had happened to her in the past that caused her to be so fundamentally broken inside. Complaining that you lost your first kiss to someone who used CPR to save your life went beyond childish.

"Anyways, thanks for saving my life!" Neptune said as she beamed a wide smile at the young girl.

"… didn't save—"

"Drowning is nothing!" Neptune said quickly, interrupting the little girl before she had a chance to say anything more, "I'm the main character so a plot device will always save me! I'm talking about the pie! Do you have any more?" Neptune asked eagerly. She wasn't hungry per-say, but she did want to taste more of that delicious pie.

"…arrogance kills," the young girl said as she left the circle and made her way around the room, pulling the kunai one-by-one out of each of the targets.

"Ah you worry too much!" Neptune said with a bright smile still on her face.

"… you, not enough."

"You know, Histoire says the same thing all the time, are you two related?" Neptune asked as she peered at the young girl intently, "nah, can't be, you clothing is too risqué, Histoire would have a fit if she was related to someone who went around flashing her panties all the time."

The young girl stopped in mid-collection and turned to stare at Neptune. The small goddess wondered for a brief moment if she had said something wrong and would have to start dodging the dozen of sharp pointy implements of death and destruction the young girl had in her hands.

Instead however the young girl let out a soft sigh and holstered the kunai without trying to use them to turn Neptune into a pincushion first. The young girl pulled open the bottom of her dress to reveal even more of her lacy black panties for a moment. The lace panties had a flower pattern design on it and were see through in many places, in just the 'right' places one might say. They didn't show anything, but they hinted at everything. It was a male's wet dream made reality. The young girl let go of the dress bottom and pulled open her top.

"… all I have," she said as she showed Neptune her absolutely flat as a pancake chest. She made Neptune in her normal form seem large chested. It was impossible for anyone to feel anything about a chest that didn't exist. If it weren't for the presence of the nipples it would have just been perfectly smooth skin with no dips and rises or blemishes of any kind, aside from the sternum which dipped for everyone, male or female.

Now Neptune understood. It was due to fan service. Every character needed to have something that showed fan service to the audience. She herself never wore any pants so that whenever she jumped her own panties flashed the audience. Noire had her large cleavage, Compa's chest pretty much bulged out of any clothing she wore, IF wore a skimpy mini-skirt, and Falcom might as well walk around in a bathing suit all the time for how much skin she enjoyed showing.

Things got even more fan servicey when she transformed, same with Noire and the other CPU's.

Before Neptune could say anything in return a shriek pierced the air, coming from outside the house. It was quickly followed by a clamor of other voices.

"Help! Monsters are attacking the village!"

"Where is the help from the guild!"

"Xone!"

"They destroyed my vegetable garden!"

"I don't want to lose my pants again!"

The young girl reacted instantly. She raised her hand and the rest of the kunai were ripped from the targets, flying to her outstretched hand. She quickly holstered them and bolted for the door, fully intent on heading to the forest to do battle with the monsters.

"Wait! What's your name…" Neptune said before the young girl was able to leave the house.

The girl stopped and glanced back at Neptune, "… Xone."

And then she was gone, out the door and speeding towards the forest beyond.

"She definitely won't be able to beat those monsters without my help! I better go do something, I am the main character after all!" Neptune said as she ran for the door and quickly followed after Xone.

Neptune raced down the dirt street as she tried to catch up Xone. The young girl was fast, very fast. So much so that she was easily outpacing Neptune in her normal form. Thankfully the village Xone lived in was very small and she reached the edge of it before Neptune lost sight of the girl.

There were monsters converging on the village, they would slow her down long enough for Neptune to catch up, especially when she became surrounded by too many of them and would inevitably need Neptune to come to the rescue.

However when Xone reached the first line of monsters she became a blur of movement, barely visible to the untrained eye. Kunai after kunai whipped away from her body as she attacked the monsters without hesitation.

That was when Neptune quickly found out that she was wrong about Xone. She really didn't need her help to defeat the monsters at all. Not only was she tearing through wave after wave of monsters effortlessly, she did so and STILL managed to pull away from Neptune.

The purple-haired goddess slowed and stopped as she reached the edge of the village, staring on in amazement as Xone tore through the monsters like they were nothing. Every strike was a one-hit kill critical hit. Each strike did thousands of points of damage, nothing compared to Neptune's EXE attack in her HDD form, but then it wasn't really fair to compare a normal human auto-attacking to a transformed CPU unleashing her ultimate attack.

Neptune couldn't help the dry look that came over her face as she watched Xone make short work of the monsters. "I guess I worried for nothing, she totally doesn't need my help for this." She said, slowly shaking from side to side. A large smile crossed her face as a sudden realization came to her, "this means I can kick back and relax!"

Instantly an entire beach set, complete with a cushioned lawn chair, an umbrella and a small table topped with an assortment of sunscreen on top of a large square beach towel, popped out of her inventory and set itself up on the ground around her. An instant later Neptune was laid back, relaxing on the lawn chair with a pair of sunglasses on her face and a martini in her hands.

It didn't take long for Xone to finish cleaning up the monsters that had been attacking the village due to her long range, impeccable accuracy, and ability to one-hit kill the monsters. Due to her quick reaction the damage to the village had been insignificant at best. The random NPC's had suffered nothing more than minor injuries, none of the structures had been damaged, and aside from a couple of ruined fields and a pair of stolen pants everything was essentially untouched.

After the last monster died Xone did her magic trick again where she summoned all her kunai into her hands, impossibly holding almost a hundred of them at once. The young girl slowly made her way back across the field to the village, storing her kunai in her holsters as she did. She gave a little start when she saw Neptune just lazing back in the law chair, not really believing what she was seeing.

Especially since it was a cloudy day and there was absolutely no use or purpose behind an umbrella or sunglasses.

"…wanted to help?" Xone asked in confusion. Neptune had stated an interest in helping her defeat the monsters, and yet hadn't done anything once she had gotten here. Despite having already left the house her sharp hearing had picked up Neptune's comments.

"Watching you flash your panties to the world while relaxing was so much funner!" Neptune said cheerfully. She waved the hand holding her martini glass at Xone, "want some?"

Xone just shook her head, "… too young," she said and turned away from Neptune, attributing Neptune's erratic behavior to her being dropped on her head one too many times.

"That never stopped me!"

"… explains things," Xone said and left Neptune to her drink. She approached the elder of the village, one of those stock elderly NPC village elder characters with a bent back and a walking cane that appeared in virtually every RPG game or anime.

"Ah! Thank you so much for saving us again, Xone," the village elder said in an old, raspy voice. His thanks was echoed by the villagers that had gathered behind the village elder, there were almost a hundred in all, they had all come out to join the elder in giving their thanks.

Xone nodded, accepting the praise with little change of expression. She was used to defending this village, being this far out it didn't get very much protection from the Capital, and any protection it did get was usually after the monsters had already gone and ransacked the village, usually for vegetables or panties. The people themselves were rarely hurt or killed by the monsters, but they certainly made life more inconvenient when all the men and women had to walk around without pants and undergarments for a few weeks while relief supplies made their way here.

Thankfully most of the people were just grey, shadowy outlines so it wasn't like anything showed when they had their pants taken away anyways. There was only a subtle shift of hues and outline on the person.

"… location?" Xone asked, wanting to know where the monsters had come from.

"The volcano, D's Inferno," the elderly man said as he pointed a single, trembling finger at the large volcano rising in the near distance, "where they've always come from. Do not concern yourself Xone. We've posted a quest for the guild to clear out the dungeon for us."

"… don't trust them," Xone said. She turned away from the elder and shot across the field and into the forest beyond, running full tilt towards the volcano in the distance, fully intent on clearing it of monsters so that the village would be safe in the future.

"She's too dedicated for one so young, she should just kick back and relax!" Neptune said as she threw her arms back behind her head and tried to sunbathe, not concerned in the slightest by the lack of a sun or the fact that she was still fully clothed in her normal outfit.

A shiver suddenly ran down Neptune's spine, as if scores of angry, rabid wombats were staring daggers and knives into her skin. Neptune mechanically turned her head to the side slowly, as if not wanting to see what was there but couldn't help herself. There, not ten feet away from her, was the entire village, staring at her as if she was the lowest piece of trash in Gamindustri and were trying to decide how to best depose of her.

Neptune suddenly had a very bad feeling.

"Ahaha… ha…ha… hi?" Neptune greeted them hesitantly.

"How can you just laze around there!" one angry villager shouted at Neptune.

As if that one single comment broke the dam, a flood of angry shouts descended upon Neptune.

"Ya! Xone is risking her life for us! Get out there!"

"Stop being lazy!"

"Worthless trash!"

"Xone is a hundred times better than you!"

"Scum!"

"Pathetic waste of space!"

"You're lazy! Go help Xone!"

"Nepuu!" Neptune shouted in surprise, recoiling from the bombardment of angry comments. She had never been on the receiving end of such hate before. It was definitely a novel experience, one she never wanted to experience again. She didn't know quite what to do about it.

The elderly man raised his rickety old cane in the air and the crowd silence. The old man hobbled over to Neptune's side and glared down at the small goddess with nothing but scorn in his eyes. In a flash of movement that belied his age he whapped Neptune over the head with his cane.

"Ow! What was that for?!" Neptune complained as she rolled off the lawn chair and onto the ground, holding a round bump that was forming on her head in pain.

"You WILL go to D's Inferno and aid Xone! Because if something happens to her and I'm no longer able to see her luscious legs and silky lace panties I will…" the elderly man trailed off, he was vibrating so much in anger and rage that forming words were almost beyond his ability.

Neptune cautiously backed away from the creepy loli-loving, panty fetish, old man. She idly wondered if Xone knew how this old man felt about her flashing her panties everywhere she went…

**Whack!**

"Whoa! Hold on there!" Neptune shouted as she jumped back in surprise, the village elder had jabbed her in the chest with his cane.

"No holding on! Leave and don't come back unless Xone is with you, and if her legs are even remotely damaged I never want to see you again!"

"Yikes!" Neptune said as she jumped back just in time to avoid another jab with the cane. The village elder wasn't the only one converging on Neptune. All the villagers, embolden by the village elder's display of courage, and Neptune's lack of resistance, began to grab various implements of destruction such as hoes, rakes, shovels, and broomsticks.

"Get out!" the village elder shouted as he jabbed at Neptune again, this time so quickly that it took all of Neptune's enhanced reflexes to dodge it. Even then she felt the breeze caused by its passage ruffle her clothes.

"I'm outa here!" Neptune shouted as she turned and bolted across the field, leaving behind her beach set. "What kind of crazy place did I end up in?"

The village elder watched Neptune leave with a stern gaze on his face. "Hmph, the audacity of her, just sitting around while someone as sweet, gentle and caring as Xone does all hard work." The village elder whirled his cane around and caught the end in his free hand. He pulled something soft off the end of it and inspected it closely, "especially someone with such plain panties, how can she possibly be think she'd be taken seriously?" the elder muttered angrily as he tossed a pair of purple and white striped panties to the side. He didn't want something so kiddy.

**~o~**

D's Inferno was a dungeon that was nestled in the side of a large volcano. The entrance was near the base of it, so far down the slopes that trees, grass, and other flora helped keep the entrance hidden from above. It didn't do much to keep it hidden from the ground however as there was a long, winding stone path that was meticulously maintained and cared for by some unknown power leading all the way to the entrance from the main road just outside the small village Xone lived in. It was a little over a three hour walk to the dungeon entrance from her village.

The volcano itself was a dominate landmark in the area. It was the only 'real' mountain in the area. It was surrounded by a number of large hills, but it was the only landmark that was tall enough to have a snow covered top, if it hadn't been a hot, smoking volcano anyways.

D's Inferno was considered a mid-level dungeon, perfect for those over level thirty-five to train and get stronger. The outer zones, those closest to the exit, had a host of low level thirty to thirty-five enemies. Further into the dungeon one started to encounter stronger enemies such as the Flame Fenrir or Mushroom Knight. Those were around level forty to forty-five and could be found in the deepest reaches.

And currently Xone was very worried and confused as to why she was fighting a monster normally found deep within the depths of this dungeon, not fifteen steps inside the entrance.

The small girl back-flipped, barely avoiding a vicious slash from the Flame Fenrir she was fighting. The monster was one of the large, indigenous ones that lived in the volcano. It was a large wolf shaped monster the stood nearly six feet tall, twelve feet long, with claws as sharp as swords, a breath capable of melting rock, and a temper mean enough to make White Heart, the CPU of Lowee, look tame.

It normally lived deep inside the volcano, in the depths of it, but for some reason they were all clustered around the entrance, as if something bigger, and meaner, had pushed them out of their natural habitat. If that was the case it would explain the frequent attacks on her village, the Flame Fenrir, and other large monsters like it, were probably pushing the weaker ones out of the volcano entirely.

Her hands blurred as she unleashed a volley of kunai at the large monster and the handful of Ms. Blinky, monsters that bore an uncanny resemblance to the ghosts from Pac-Man. The moment the last kunai left her finger tips she turned slightly so that the monsters were to her side, her right foot slid forward and her right hand snapped towards the enemies, open palm with her thumb tucked in. A soft green glow enveloped her hand monetarily before shot out and coalesced into the shape of a runic grid in front of her open palm.

"Rain of Steel," Xone murmured quietly. The runic grid flashed brightly and shattered into a million pieces.

The volley of kunai disappeared. In its place a thousand kunai rained from the sky above the monsters. The sound of tearing flesh and explosions of pixels filled the air as all the lesser monsters were wiped out in an instant.

But she didn't get everything.

Her vision went red and sharp, rending pain ripped through her body. The next thing she knew she was airborne, hurtling through the air at breakneck speeds. Unfortunately for her the only thing to break her fall was the hard, unyielding stone floor. Shards if agony tore across her body and wracked her mind as she slammed harshly into the cold, unforgiving stone.

Gritting her teeth in pain, Xone quickly clambered to her feet. She almost wasn't able to as the pain was so intense. She glanced down at her side and grimaced, there were four, large gouges in her side, chunks of flesh were simply missing entirely. Blood was flowing freely from the wounds and unless she got it treated right away, she was probably going to die.

She glanced over at the monster that had attacked her. The Flame Fenrir. It wasn't going to give her the chance to heal herself. She could see the drool dripping from its mouth as it anticipated the meal to come.

This was her fatal flaw, something that she hadn't been aware of. Everything she'd fought until now had been so weak she'd easily been able to beat them in a single hit. She had never before encountered a monster that could either evade her attack, or just outright survive it. As a result she'd never thought, or needed, to train her defensive capabilities. She could dodge like the best of them but you couldn't dodge forever and she didn't have the HP or defense capable of taking very many hits. She'd only been hit once since arriving her at D's Inferno, only once and it had taken away ninety-five percent of her HP, and had inflected bleed status on her, causing her to take another two percent of her HP in damage every turn thereafter.

She was regretting rushing off to the dungeon by herself now. If she had even a single other person to help her, she'd be fine. But now she was going to end up as dog food.

Suddenly a high pitched voice pierced the air, "Neptune to the rescue!"

A large katana cut through the Flame Fenrir, splitting it in half and sending it back to the compiler in a cloud of pixels. From the cloud of pixels emerged a familiar looking purple-haired little girl.

Xone suppressed a sigh of relief. She wasn't one to show weakness even on the verge of death. She gave Neptune a quick nod and went through her inventory, looking for healing items she could use on herself.

There was nothing there.

She had never needed any, so she hadn't bothered to spend what little money she earned from the village elder protecting the village on items like that.

"Hiya!" Neptune shouted as she threw a small bottle at Xone, "take my special Nep Bull! My R&amp;D department made it for me because I hurt myself so often. It works really well, trust me," she said with a brilliant smile on her face.

Xone caught the bottle and quickly downed the contents. She grimaced as a disgusting taste assaulted her taste buds. It tasted like someone had just taken a dirty sock, stuffed a piece of turd inside it, and then filled it with hot sauce. It was truly the singular most rancid thing Xone had ever inserted into her mouth, ever.

But despite the taste it worked miracles. Chunks of flesh literally materialized on the spot as the deep gouges in her side healed up almost instantly. A quick glance at her health bar showed it at one hundred percent. That single drink had healed all her wounds.

In fact it had even cured her of her fatigue. She felt more refreshed now than when she had awoken this morning. Despite the rancid taste, it was incredibly effective.

"… tastes like shit."

"Ya, that was Histoire's idea," Neptune said apologetically, "she felt that the worse it tasted, the less likely I'd be to do stupid things and hurt myself."

"… good idea," Xone said approvingly. She hadn't known Neptune for a long time but even she could see that Neptune was had more than a few screws loose.

"Which doesn't make any sense, I never do any stupid things!"

Xone had to bite her tongue to prevent herself from commenting.

"…thank you," Xone said and gave Neptune a short bow. Regardless of Neptune's maturity, or lack thereof, she had saved her life. That deserved at least some show of respect and consideration. She'd even hold off on trolling Neptune anymore due to that. At least while they were in D's Inferno anyways.

Neptune brushed off Xone's thanks with a wave of her hand, "don't worry, that's what the main character is all about, arriving at the last moment to save the day!" This type of situation always happened in video games. Something bad happens to the main characters friends and she arrives at the last minute to save the day. It was almost mandatory for that scene to exist in every game. The purple haired CPU gave Xone a critical once-over, "are you going to run around like that?"

And by 'that' Neptune was commenting on the state of Xone's dress.

Xone glanced down at her side, she had been so preoccupied with the injury she hadn't realized that attack had actually torn off the upper right side of her dress. It was simply missing from the hips up, leaving half of her chest bare to the world.

"… lost kunai," Xone said sadly, commenting on the most unfortunate aspect of the missing fabric. She'd had lost nearly twenty kunai due to that.

Equipment didn't remain around for very long out in the open. It had to be in something, a chest, a store, an inventory, or someone's character sheet. Otherwise they simply disappeared, to avoid cluttering up the environment. The nano-machines that existed everywhere destroyed it and reprocessed the materials to help revitalize the surroundings. The only place one COULD just randomly toss things and reasonably expect it to stay was their homes. Homes, as a whole, were considered one giant holding container, or inventory.

"You're just going to run around like that?" Neptune asked, her eyebrow raising in skepticism. She hardly thought that it was a good idea. "What if a perverted random NPC appeared out of nowhere and started taking pictures?"

That had happened several times already during this story.

Xone shrugged, she didn't care one way or another, "… nothing there," she said as she pointed at her flat chest.

There was a second reason why she didn't bother to do anything about her missing fabric. She had forgotten all of her spare clothes at home. She hadn't anticipated needing to replace it on the adventure. There was no use worrying about something you couldn't do anything about.

"Oh, right, you mentioned that before," Neptune said as she pounded one little fist in the palm of her other hand.

"… better than you," Xone added.

"Wait, what?! I'm fully dressed you know!"

Xone pointed at Neptune and made a hand motion like she was trying to lift her skirt. With her sharp eyes she had noticed something when Neptune had made her entrance. Something that made Xone's lack of a top almost inconsequential.

Neptune gave Xone a curious look and slowly raised the bottom of her hoody. At first Neptune saw nothing wrong, but when she raised the edge up to her waist, she finally saw what Xone was getting at.

"Where are my panties?!"

She had been certain she had put them on back at the house, she used to forget to put them on but after a dozen day long lectures from Histoire, the last which ended with a catastrophic eruption of anger and rage so intense that it almost burned down Nep Tower, Neptune had sworn never again to forget her panties.

"… pervert."

"No! I put them on! Histoire would take my head if I didn't!" Neptune protested quickly. She was certain she had put them on, absolutely certain. There was fan service, and then there was X-Rated service. She was a fan of the former, not so much of the latter.

"… pervert," Xone repeated her statement with a slight frown on her face.

"Nepuu!" Neptune said as she took a step back. It hurt, not being believed. Although she could sort of understand where Xone was coming from. She had to clear her name and in a jiffy! That meant tracing back to when she lost her panties.

Neptune's mind raced back through the annals of her very short memory. She remembered a breezy feeling down below while racing through the woods to the volcano, she remembered it during her conversation with the village elder, but she didn't remember feeling it while relaxing on her beach set.

"That's it! That old man must have used some creepy old man voodoo trick to steal my panties!" Neptune cried out indignantly, "Oh! Now I'm being stalked by creepy old men, what is a cute girl like me to do?!"

A sweat drop rolled down the back of Xone's head as she stared at Neptune, struggling hard to keep an incredulous look off her face. She really wondered what sort of place Neptune came from where her first knee-jerk reaction was to worry about being stalked by perverts.

Xone let out a small sigh, she rarely said more than a single word a day, but she'd already talked enough today to meet her monthly quota. Something about Neptune just made her want to talk. The young girl grimaced and worked her mouth a little, she wasn't used to being this expressive, or talking this much.

"… the elder is a pervert," Xone said, struggling to push out a fully constructed sentence so that she could probably explain what she meant earlier. Sometimes one or two words just weren't enough when the words could easily be referring to multiple things.

Neptune pointed a finger at Xone, her eyes wide and mouth open in shock, "that was almost a full sentence!"

Xone let out another sigh and turned away from Neptune, she shouldn't have bothered. She hated it when people commented on her way of talking. It wasn't that she didn't want to, or couldn't, form full sentences she just didn't see the need. For her it was all about efficiency. Why say a dozen words when two was more than enough?

"… Boss, deep inside," Xone said as she stared down into the depths of the volcano trying to get a feel for how far the dungeon extended. Realizing it was impossible to figure out just from the entrance, and the fact that she didn't want to be here when the Flame Fenrir respawns, she started off down the hallway. She was determined to clear the volcano out and get home before dark.

"Hey! Wait for me! We're a party now, let me get my panties on first!" Neptune's voice called out after her.

Xone shook her head and ignored it. Neptune would catch up, she was certain of it. She could tell, despite Neptune's childish attitude and bouts of absolute stupidity. She had a good heart and wouldn't hesitate to rush to someone's rescue, even a complete stranger's. Neptune was lazy to a fault, but she wouldn't stand idly by while someone was in danger.

She had been willing to help Xone with the monsters attacking the village. Neptune had only turned stupid when she had realized Xone was more than capable of handling the monsters on her own.

In a way, Xone didn't want this dungeon crawl to end. This was the first time someone had ever helped her with anything before. For all the fawning the villagers did over her, they had never once lifted a finger to help her. It felt nice to have someone else fighting at your side.

Well, once Neptune hurried up and got here. She appeared to be as slow on her feet as she was in the head.

**~o~**

Neptune jumped into the air, using the force of her leap to add power behind her swing. Her katana cut straight through the large monster from left hip to right shoulder, splitting it in half and dealing the final blow. The large monster exploded into a shower of pixels, leaving Neptune and Xone alone on the battlefield.

Landing on her feet Neptune twirled in place and rested the back of her katana on her shoulder. She beamed a smile at Xone and gave her a peace sign, "done and dusted! Another victory for Team Neptune!"

"… stupid name," Xone said as she began to collect her throwing weapons, summoning them back to her hand and then tucking them into various holsters under her dress.

"You're just jealous it's not Team Xone!" Neptune said with a giant grin on her face. Neptune had bugged Xone relentlessly, once she had caught up to her, about creating a team name for their group.

Neptune had eventually managed to convince Xone into agreeing, although the latter only accepted simply to shut Neptune up for a bit. After an intense game of rock-paper-scissors that Xone only lost because she couldn't be bothered, Neptune had decided on the team name.

"… couldn't care less," Xone said without expression, brushing Neptune's comment aside like it was nothing. She really couldn't care less what Neptune called their group. She was just happy to be in one, not that she would give Neptune the satisfaction of knowing that.

Xone was far more concerned about other, more pressing issues, such as how much more exhausting a dungeon crawl was than she had originally though. This was her first time in a dungeon, having normally limited her actions to solo play in the forests around her village or defending it from the odd monster invasion.

Sweat poured down her face and she had to resist the urge to wipe it away. Neptune didn't appear to be even the least bit winded and she wasn't going to show any weakness in front of someone like that. It wasn't like wiping it away would do anything; it would just come back within moments anyways. It wasn't just her face either, what was left of her dress was soaked as well, her exposed chest glistened in the flickering orange light that filled the dungeon. Oddly enough she was even thankful now that a quarter of her dress was missing, it certainly helped to keep her body temperature down and there was no lack of wind inside D's Inferno. Where it was coming from, Xone didn't know, but it was refreshing none-the-less, despite the intense heat it carried with it.

The young girl from the small village in the woods glanced up as the countless tiny nano-machines that filled Gamindustri quickly went to work constructing a victory screen to display their spoils of war:

**Victory!**

**EXP Gained**: 17,850  
**Credits Earned**: 9,500  
**Max Damage**: 980,150  
**Max Combo**: 707  
**Items Found**:  
Flame Fang x2  
Multi-colored Ribbon x5  
Three-Pronged Kunai Plan

The combo and damage was all her. Neptune was definitely a higher level than her, much higher, but she was more well-rounded with a solid defense, probably due to her hard head, and lots of HP, which was probably augmented by her stupidity.

Xone was focused almost entirely on offense so while she was a lower level than Neptune, she did far more damage. And the nature of her weapon and attacks allowed her to rack up an incredible number of attacks. For everyone one attack that Neptune did, she did over thirty. At that ratio things really added up by the end of an assault combo.

She ignored the ding that signalled she had leveled up again, brushing the number '35' from her sight. She had never really paid much attention to her level and stats before, and still didn't now. It didn't matter to her, so long as she was strong enough that was all that mattered. Besides, she was specialized, levels didn't mean much to individuals like her.

"Cool! A new special plan I've never seen before!" Neptune said as she pulled the Three-Pronged Kunai Plan out of their party's shared inventory. "I have absolutely no clue what this says," the purple haired CPU added as she stared at the plan in absolute confusion.

Xone held her hand out for kunai plan. If it was something about kunais then she could probably decipher it just fine. She had made all of her own after all so she knew a thing or two about their construction. She would have to replace the ones she had lost in that first fight against the Flame Fenrir and replacing them with a new, different type of kuani could potentially open up avenues for new abilities.

"Ah ha! I figured it out!" Neptune said in a triumphant voice, her eyes started to sparkle as she unraveled the mystery of the plan, "these are those thingies you use to shave your lady parts with!"

Xone twitched, violently, and had to swiftly suppress the urge to strangle Neptune.

"IF could use some of these, just to spare her Compa's tape!"

"…no!" Xone shouted and snatched the plan from Neptune's grasp before the older girl could even react. She didn't even want to know what her weapon, tape, and lady bits had in common. "… my weapon," the platinum haired beauty said as she opened the plan up and took a look at it.

A sweat drop rolled down the back of her head. Neptune had been reading it upside down. Turning the plan a hundred an eighty degrees everything made sense, including the words. This was definitely a plan for a new type of kunai, one that she had never seen or heard of before. The kunai weren't designed to fly as far or as fast as her own. They sacrificed speed and accuracy for damage and penetration power.

What's more they could even be used as markers to attract other kunai to them. She could use it as a homing beacon for other kunai so that no matter how much the target dodged or moved, her kunai would still hit.

She'd definitely have to make some of these.

"Are you sure? It looked like—"

"… stop, don't," Xone said, raising her hand quickly to stop Neptune from saying anything else She did not want to hear another word about her sharp, pointy instruments of death being used as tools to shave hair.

Neptune made her way around behind Xone and peaked over her shoulder at the plans. Her eyes lit up in understanding as she read the plan right side up, "Whoa! I see now, the words actually make sense now, I didn't know you could cast translation magic!"

Xone turned the plan upside down again, "… upside down," she said as she explained to Neptune why she hadn't been able to read it before.

"Oh! I get it now! This must be one of those special plans that you can't read while it's upside down!" Neptune said in awe and amazement.

Xone slowly turned her head and gave Neptune such a deadpan look that Neptune momentarily wondered if she broke the young girl. The two stared at one another for a long time. All the while Neptune started to become more and more nervous as she stared into the completely dead and emotionless face of her companion.

She was beginning to think she may have said something wrong.

"… idiot."

"Nepuu!" Neptune rocked back in shock at the sudden and blunt insult, her hands raised as if to fend off any further insults.

Xone turned away from Neptune and quickly rolled up the plan before stuffing it into her private inventory. There was absolutely no way she was going to let someone like Neptune anywhere near something that valuable, not to mention heads would roll if Neptune turned her precious weapons into a fancy razor blade.

The young platinum-haired girl looked up at the mini-map, an overhead display that the nano-machines created for parties when they entered zones that were designated as dungeons. She tapped the display once and it expanded into a full-zone sized map.

"… almost there," Xone said as she saw the exit, which was labeled clearly on the map, not far from their current position.

There also didn't appear to be any monster spawn points between them and the exit either. Monsters could wander far and wide once they spawned, but once they were destroyed there were only a few set locations in which they could reappear. If they hurried they could get to the deepest section of D's Inferno without having to fight another battle.

Which suited Xone just fine, she had exhausted nearly all of her SP getting just this far and the mental fatigue was starting to wear on her, not to mention the physical fatigue.

"And then we get to fight the boss monster at the end!" Neptune cheered and waved her sword around excitedly.

Xone nodded her head in agreement as she started for the entrance to the next zone, which was marked by a pair of large futuristic sliding metal doors that had absolutely no reason to exist in the depths of an active volcano. There had to be a boss monster waiting for them, it was the only thing that explained the current makeup of the dungeon. Something was pushing the stronger monsters from the depths to the entrance.

And that meant something much larger and meaner than the creatures they'd been dealing with thus far.

Xone stopped as she reached the sliding doors and rested a handle on the symbol engraved in the center of it. The symbol began to glow blue lines as glowing lines of a similar color spider webbed across the surface.

"What kind of boss monster do you think it is?" Neptune asked excitedly as she came up beside Xone.

"… a dead one," Xone replied. At least it would be once she finished with it. It was a danger to her village so long as it stayed here.

"I sure hope not, I want to fight a live one! Maybe it's a Juggernaut, or perhaps even an Ancient Dragon! Maybe we'll fight some long lost ancient Deity of Evil!"

Xone gave Neptune an exasperated look, while the Ancient Dragon was certainly possible, they liked to live in warm environments, she certainly hoped that it wasn't any of those possibilities. The Ancient Dragon was the weakest of the three enemies that Neptune mentioned and they never came under level fifty and required a full party of equal level to beat fairly. Without that you had to rely on conveniently appearing plot devices like flying galleons.

The sliding door glowed briefly and dissolved into pixels, granting access to the zone beyond.

"I thought it was a sliding door…" Neptune said as she stared at the dissolving pixels in confusion.

Xone shrugged and stepped across the zone threshold. It didn't matter to her, just so long as it opened. Neptune followed her through the portal to the next zone, prepared to do battle with the enormous, powerful and ugly boss monster located therein.

They only managed to take a few steps into the zone before something green and white shot past them, the vortex of air created in its passage caused their hair to blow around wildly. The object brutally slammed into the rock wall behind them, causing the zone to rock and quake. A cloud of dirt and dust erupted from the point of impact and momentarily concealed the area.

"Eh?" Neptune tilted her head in confusion as she alternated between staring into boss room beyond and back at the hole in the wall that was slowly being revealed as the cloud of dust and dirt dissipated.

"… boss?" Xone asked as she looked around the boss room in confusion, looking for the large, mean boss monster that could cause all those powerful creatures to the front of the dungeon while deliberately ignoring the dust cloud behind her.

"Ugh, Neptune?" A familiar voice called out from the hole in the wall.

Neptune and Xone both froze at the sound of 'that' unmistakable voice.

"Lady Green Heart" "Vert?!" they said at the same time as they whirled around to stare at the hole in the zone wall.

A pair of white gauntlets white black accents reached out from within the hole and gripped the edges. There was a soft grunt as Vert heaved herself out from the hole she had been thrown in.

Vert, also known as Green Heart to the masses in her current HDD form. Green Heart's long sea-foam green hair that was held up in a pony-tail that extended all the way down past her hips, framing her beautiful face and light purple eyes. Of all the CPUs, her's was the most revealing, resembling something much closer to a bikini than an actual body suit. The top covered Vert's neck and went down from there to cover the tops of her enormous E-Cup breasts. It was split in the middle to reveal ample amounts of cleavage between the breasts and wrapped around to the back once it covered the nipples, leaving the entire underside of the breast exposed. It was white in color with green accents highlight the area between the breasts. Her bottom was much the same color, but wasn't much different from the standard bikini bottom save that it covered up to her waist at the sides. A single white boot that extended up past her knee covered her left leg, the right one was missing.

Vert was the CPU of Leanbox, a large island nation nestled in the crook of the main continent between Lastation and Planeptune. Its technology level was almost on par with that of Planeptune which put it far ahead of Lowee and Lastation. It prided itself on coming out with the latest and greatest motion capture systems as well as a console system on par with the other nations.

The most worrisome thing about Vert's appearance however was how disheveled and injured she appeared to be. There were cuts and bruises all over her body, her once immaculately kept hair was dirty and snarled. Her HDD outfit, what little there was of it, had rips and tears all throughout it and one had to wonder just what sort of magic Vert was employing to keep it from falling to pieces right there on the spot.

In other words it looked as if Vert was fighting a powerful boss monster, and losing.

"… but I don't see a boss monster…" Neptune said in confusion as she looked around the room, giving voice to her thoughts about Vert's appearance.

"It's, right there," Vert said in a pained voice, pointing at something small and white in the distance. She floated over to stand beside Neptune. The glowing pink wings with black accents on her back granted her the ability to levitate. "What are you doing here anyways?"

"What? I don't see anything…" Neptune said as her eyes scanned the boss room, ignoring Vert's question. The only thing Neptune could see was a small fluffy white thing in the center, but there was no way something that cute could be a boss.

"… defeat boss," Xone said, fidgeting a little as she desperately tried to keep the nervousness from her voice. This was the first time Xone had ever seen her CPU, Green Heart, up close and it was taking almost all of her will power to stay calm. To her Vert was everything she wanted to be: Tall, proud, strong, powerful, loved, respected, and most of all, huge breasts. Vert's breasts were so large a man could suffocate between those bountiful mounds and die happily while doing so. For someone like Xone who had absolutely nothing, and feared would never have anything, Vert's chest was a dream she chased with all her might.

"Who are you?" Vert asked as she looked at Xone as if seeing her for the first time. She hadn't even noticed the young girl when she had pulled herself from the hole in the wall.

"… X—"

"That's Xone!" Neptune said cheerfully, interrupting the young girl. Xone glared at Neptune angrily, wanting to introduce herself to the object of her worship, "she's great, when she's not throwing sharp pointy objects at you!"

Vert eyed Xone up and down, taking in her entire appearance. A look of pity crossed her eyes as she stared briefly at Xone's exposed, and completely flat, chest, "my, I suppose she's great in other departments…"

Xone's cheeks flushed in shame and she looked away, she couldn't bear to see the pity in her Goddess's eyes. She was well aware of unfortunate she was in a department that her Goddess was exceptionally gifted in.

"Yup! She has absolutely no breasts and flashes her panties to creepy old village elders to compensate but she bakes a mean apple pie!"

Right then, Xone wanted nothing more than to just dig a deep, dark hole, jump inside, and bury herself. What Neptune said was true, but the way she said it made it sound far worse than it actually was.

"… hmmm, you always did attract the weird ones, Neptune," Vert said and almost instantly regretted it when she saw Xone flinch as if struck. Teasing was fine and all, but perhaps she had taken it a step too far.

"Yup! I'm so going to steal—"

"No! Green Heart's better," Xone shouted for the first time in her life. She wasn't going to have Neptune ruin her image in Vert's eyes any more.

"Awww… you said that last time too, I thought we were bonding like best buds," Neptune said in a dejected voice.

"… rather party with Lady Green Heart."

"Well, at least she has good judge of character," Vert said as she smirked at Neptune, "I am better than you after all," she jiggled her breasts in Neptune's direction, "much better."

"That's not fair! You're not better just because you have thunder jugs!" Neptune protested heartily, pumping her fists in frustration.

"… she is," Xone said simply, deflating Neptune even further.

"I think I like her," Vert said as she gave Xone a gentle smile. "She knows quality when she sees it."

Xone couldn't help but flush with happiness at the compliment.

"Hey, you bitches done talking? Can we get a move on already? I have places to be and whores to impregnate!" a gruff, foul sounding vulgar voice broke into their conversation.

"Nepuu!" Neptune recoiled in shock as she whirled around, looking for the origin of that voice, "where is that gigolo type voice coming from!?"

Vert's expression became hard as she turned and glared at the small white cute furry thing in the distance. "That would be the boss. I came here to defeat it when I heard reports of something causing a disturbance in the area." Her hyper lance appeared in her hands, a long twelve foot long futuristic lance with a wicked looking five prong tip.

"Oh don't give me that look baby, you're just making me hard," the rude, perverted voice said, "too bad you're all soft and squishy otherwise I'd knock you up like the whore you are. But I'm looking for real meat to stick my dick in, not something as weak and fleshy as you."

"Where is that voice coming from!?" Neptune cried out as she desperately looked around for the boss.

"And forget the stupid one, I'd be ashamed to be the sire anything that idiot spawned," there was the sound of tobacco being spat out and bouncing off the rock floor.

"… Neptune, there," Xone said as she pointed at the small cute, white furry rabbit in the center of the room. The one that was currently standing on its two hind legs and chewing tobacco with its hands on its hips as it stared down at the three of them.

"Now her, she looks like a keeper!" the perverted rabbit said as it stared lustfully at Xone's naked chest. "Brains, brawns, and meat I can sink my teeth into! None of that flabby fat crap sagging off that green-haired bitches chest."

Xone quickly covered her chest with one hand and turned away from the cute, fluffy rabbit in the center of the room. A crack echoed across the room as Vert's good nature splintered and shattered in tiny pieces. An angry tick appeared on Vert's forehead as she glared pure murder at the 'boss monster' in the center of the cavernous room, wishing nothing more than to tear it to tiny little bite sized furry chunks.

"That's the big boss that's been terrorizing the area?" Neptune asked incredulously. The purple haired girl started to laugh, "Vert got her ass kicked by a cute little rabbit, I gotta tell Noire this!"

Vert shot an annoyed look at Neptune, "that's no ordinary rabbit," she bit out.

"Just stand back and let the pro take care of this!" Neptune said as she summoned her katana, swinging it once before charging headlong at the cute fuzzy little rabbit.

"Wait! Neptune we need to work together!" Vert shouted out a warning. Neptune didn't know what this rabbit was like. She hadn't been fighting it like Vert had the past few minutes.

"Haha! I'll have this done in a jiffy!" Neptune said as she leapt at the rabbit and swung her sword down.

The rabbit stared up at the oncoming Goddess with nothing but contempt in its eyes.

The two forces met.

Purple streaked.

Steel flashed.

There was a blur of white.

A powerful boom resounded throughout the room, causing the ground to quake.

A blur of purple and white went flying past Xone and Vert as Neptune slammed brutally into the rock wall behind them causing an explosion of dust, rock and fabric. Xone just stood there, slack jawed at how easily Neptune had just been beaten, and by such a weak looking boss. Vert simply looked back at the hole Neptune made in the wall with an 'I told you so' look on her face.

"Ugh, what hit me?" Neptune asked as she slowly pulled herself from the Neptune shaped hole in the wall. She was just as dirty and beaten up as Vert was now, her monochrome hoody was in tatters and barely hanging onto her frame, one arm was missing completely and the other one barely hung on. One of her socks were missing, despite the shoe still being on her foot and intact, and her hair was all messy and frazzled.

"A little cute fuzzy rabbit," Vert said in a dry voice. "We need to work together if we want to defeat this monster."

"Hey! Don't call me a monster!" the cute fuzzy rabbit shouted out indignantly. The rabbit did a little dance, clapping it's hands, twirled on the spot, and ended in a pose with his hind legs spread wide, one hand on his hips, and another pointed to the sky with his nose pointed so high into the sky he was looking backwards, "I am a master gigolo! I have impregnated over five hundred women across fifty different species! I am the ultimate pimp master: Mr. Rabbit!"

The three girls stared at the rabbit like he had just lost his mind. If it wasn't for the fact that he had just kicked Neptune's ass in under half a second and had already handed Vert hers earlier they would have just passed him off as a deranged lunatic.

However someone that strong would be more than able to overpower just about anyone.

"He has to be using a cheat code…" Neptune said as she stared at the rabbit.

"Don't be stupid Neptune, he can't be using a cheat code," Vert said irritably. She was still smarting over the fact that she got her ass kicked by a perverted gigolo white rabbit that had insulted HER chest of all things.

"Pfft, the saggy chested bitch got it right, you stupid child, cheat codes are so last year. Hex editing is all the rage now! I hacked my character! You bitches can't hope to reach my level! You can't touch this!" the rabbit declared as it started to put on his MC Hammer moves.

Neptune's eyebrow twitched violently. Cute rabbit or not, it was asking for a beating. She had taken it easy on him last time. She wouldn't make that mistake again. A pillar of purple light engulfed Neptune as she activated her HDD transformation. When the light died down Neptune was in her HDD state, her large sword held before her, at the ready.

"Vert, join us, I think it's time we taught this foul mouthed rabbit a thing or two about what it means to insult us CPUs!"

"I was wondering when you would get serious, Neptune, you're much better when you're like this," Vert said and pointed her spear at the rabbit, floating up to hover beside her fellow CPU.

"… a CPU?" Xone asked in bewilderment as she stared at Neptune. Sure, she knew Neptune could transform, but she didn't know that made her a CPU. To be honest, she didn't see how anyone like 'her 'could have ended up as a CPU. Someone must have made a mistake somewhere.

"This isn't the time or place to discuss my qualifications," Neptune said in a dry voice, "we have a perverted rabbit to teach a lesson to."

"… right," Xone said as she crouched low and grabbed a dozen kunai from inside her dress.

"Please, all three of you together can't touch this!" the white rabbit said as it continued to dance mockingly.

"Vert, hit him from the side, Xone, back us up from range," Neptune quickly barked orders. She leveled her sword at the arrogant rabbit, "I'll hit him from the front!"

"Yes, he needs to be taught a lesson."

"… alright."

Twin sonic booms signaled the start of the single most lopsided battle to ever grace Gamindustri. Techniques powerful enough to split the sea and carve up the land flashed across the zone. Kunai rained from the sky and hurtled through the air without end, littering the field with countless blades making movement deadly for those that couldn't fly. High speed movement the likes of which few have ever seen created a dizzying display of light and color that put even the most fantastical light shows to shame.

And through it all a blur of white danced.

Light flashed as powerful techniques were canceled, exploded harmlessly in the distance, or simply bulldozed through as if they were no more annoying than a bug bite. The kunai were caught, chewed up, ripped apart, dodged, caught, and thrown back faster, stronger, and more deadly than before.

And the white blur continued to dance circles around them angry goddesses.

Vert was the first to fall, having already been tired from the prior battle she was the first to slow down.

"Not enough! You can't touch this you saggy chested bitch!" the white rabbit said as it took advantage of a slight mistake in Vert's movement. He hit her in the chest with a double paw blast, knocking all the wind out of Vert's lungs and causing the CPU of Leanbox to double over in pain. "Booya!" the rabbit shouted as he did a handstand in mid-air and double-kicked Vert in the chin, sending her up towards the ceiling.

Xone and Neptune desperately tried to stop him from following through but he evaded their attacks and appeared above the stunned goddess, somehow with Vert's spear in his hands. He whirled it around his body like stage performer swinging a baton, before slamming it into Vert's back. There was a loud snapping sound and the green haired goddess screamed in pain as her own weapon was broken over her back. Vert hurtled towards the ground like a meteor, a white blur streaking all around her cutting into her in a hundred different places with his razor sharp inch long claws.

There was a loud boom as Vert cratered into the ground, throw up a cloud of dust and dirt. When the dust settled Neptune and Xone could only gape at the scene before them. Vert was down and out, sprawled out haphazardly in the center of the crater, and covered in injuries. Her clothes were no more, what little had survived her initial encounter had been shredded by the rabbits final attack.

Said rabbit was standing on her back with his arms crossed behind his head and one foot resting on Vert's ass, smirking up at Neptune and Xone as if he was god's gift to mankind.

Vert's form glowed green and began to shift and morph as she reverted back to her human form. The change was only slight, as Vert in her human form was, physically at least, very similar to that of her HDD form. She lost a few centimeters in height, her breast size decreased slightly, and the most significant change was that her sea-foam green hair turned a brilliant blond.

"That… is one very aggravating animal," Neptune commented tersely as she glared at the rabbit. Once she got her hands on him she was going to skin him and turn him into a pair of boots.

Xone nodded in agreement as she too glared down into the crater at the accursed rabbit. "… get off Vert."

"You're next," the rabbit said as he pointed at Neptune.

"I'm stronger than Vert!"

The rabbit suddenly appeared right in front of Neptune's face. A wide grin creased his face, "then you'll last half a second longer, right?" Neptune rocked back in shock and tried to put some distance between her and the rabbit. But the boss monster would have nothing of the sort. "One hundred thousand rabbit stripping power attack strong omega kick punch!" the rabbit shouted as he enabled one of his many custom, hacked abilities he had given himself.

The rabbit disappeared from sight, moving too fast for either of the conscious girls to track. Blows rained down on Neptune from all directions. Tens, hundreds, thousands, and more, blows knocked Neptune around like a pinball. From anyone looking in on the outside it looked like Neptune was being thrown around like a ragdoll in a small ten foot diameter sphere. Any time she reached the edge a blow knocked her back towards the other side.

And with each strike a piece of Neptune's body suit was ripped off. By the time the thousandth blow connected, there wasn't a stitch of clothing left on Neptune's body.

Xone wanted to help Neptune, but the rabbit was moving too fast to hit, she was more likely to injure Neptune than hit the rabbit. It made her feel frustrated and helpless, and she didn't like that feeling one bit. This was the first time she had never been in control of her life, stuck in a situation where there was no escape. Even the first fight with the Flame Fenrir was something she had limited amounts of control over. She could have escaped from that battle if she wanted to.

This fight was different however, the rabbit wouldn't let them go no matter what, and even if it did, she wasn't going to leave Vert here alone to suffer whatever the rabbit had in store for her.

After what actually seemed like a hundred thousand blows the rabbit streaked up to the ceiling and blasted down towards the dazed and disoriented CPU of Planeptune that hung in mid-air like she was being suspended.

"Omega Hyper Mr. Rabbit Custom Meteor Oblivion Strike!" the rabbit shouted one of his finishing strikes as and streaked towards the naked CPU of Planeptune, head first with his front paws stretched out above his head.

The rabbit hammered into Neptune's stomach with a thunderous clap. The CPU of Planeptune folded over by the force of the impact, her breath forced from her lungs with a loud whoosh. Blood and spittle flew from her mouth as more than a few things were violently rearranged inside her body.

The rabbit cratered Neptune's body into the ground, rocking the zone yet again, causing yet another eruption of dust, dirt and rock. Stalactites and large chunks of rock fell from the ceiling giving rise to a worry that the entire place may end up collapsing before the end of the battle.

When the dust cleared it revealed an unconscious Neptune sprawled out painfully in the center of a large crater in the middle of the zone. Like Vert, Neptune was down and out for the count. She'd need an Energy Fragment, an object capable of reviving a downed person, to be brought back any time in the near future.

The rabbit was standing, once again, triumphantly on top of a downed CPU. This time he had one hind leg up on Neptune's large breast with his arms crossed across his chest as he smirked up at Xone who was staring down at him in disbelief.

"That's two down, now… it's time for the real meat!" the rabbit said as he eyed Xone lustfully.

"… no," Xone said as she got into a fighting stance, palming more kunai. She wasn't going to go down without a fight.

"Oh don't be like that baby! It's best to give in! I'm gonna have my way and stick my babies in you!"

Xone shuddered in revulsion. The last thing she wanted right now was to be knocked up by a perverted, hacked rabbit that had a fetish for flat chests. She'd never be able to live down the humiliation or the shame.

She'd resist to the bitter end, and if worse came to worse, she'd swallow her own tongue.

"… die." A dozen kunai blistered through the air towards the smirking rabbit.

And hit nothing but dirt.

"I'm gonna enjoy you!" the lecherous rabbit shouted gleefully as he appeared in front of Xone, his front paws stretched out in front of him as he got ready to tear the last of Xone's clothes from her body.

The young girl desperately tried to calm her rapidly beating heart as she prepared to defend herself against the greatest threat to her purity to ever exist. The sheer amount of surprise, shock and fear that had been, and still was, coursing through her body was causing a great amount of stress.

A pair of white hind legs slammed into the side of the rabbits face. Everything seemed to slow down in that one singular instant as Xone watched the perverted rabbits face impossibly deform as his nose and mouth were violently rocked to the side while the rest of the head remained stationary.

The slow motion lasted only an instant before everything snapped back to normal speed.

"BLARGH!" the white rabbit shouted incomprehensibly as he was hurled across the zone. He slammed into the ground and bounced a dozen times before he rolled the rest of the way across the way, slamming into the zone wall with enough force to fracture it.

Xone froze, not believing what she had just seen. The rabbit that had caused them so much trouble had just been stomped into the ground…

By another rabbit.

It was in that singular moment in time, that Xone developed a fear of rabbits.

The white rabbit that had been knocked across the room was on his feet in an instant, an angry scowl on his face, "Who dares kick the great… great…" he trailed off and his white fur grew even whiter as he stared into the face of his greatest nemesis.

"What do you THINK you are doing young man?!" the second white rabbit shouted at the other, this one had a feminine voice.

"Ah, well, you know, I…" a rather sheepish look crossed the first rabbits face.

"I know DAMN well what you were doing! You're coming home right NOW!"

"But I'm the master gigolo, I must…"

"Master gigolo my ass! You've haven't even caught your OWN tail let alone someone else's!"

"Mom! Not in front of the girls!" the first rabbit whined.

"Don't 'Mom' me!" the mother said as she walked over to her son and grabbed him by his long, fluffy ears. She twisted them hard causing him to squeal in pain, "you're coming with me and we're going home! Do you understand?! And so help me if you sneak out ONCE more I'm going to give you SUCH a whoopin you won't be able to stand for a year! And then I'm going to get REAL nasty!" the mother rabbit berated her son mercilessly and began to drag the helpless rabbit across the devastated landscape.

"Ow, ow, ow, I can walk on my own! I gotta look cool for the girls!" the son whined pitifully.

"Oh shut up, those girls are much too good for a worthless punk like you!" the mother said and threw her son. The powerful rabbit that had given the CPU's such a hard time hurtled across the zone like a ragdoll and through the boundary door into the neighbouring zone. The mother rabbit turned to zone and gave her a short bow, "sorry about my son's behaviour, pass my apologies on to the CPUs as well. I'll make sure he doesn't misbehave again."

Xone nodded, not sure what else to do or say.

The mother rabbit took Xone's nod as an acceptance and quickly hurried after her son to ensure that he didn't get into any more mischief before she could get him back to her burrow.

When the rabbit finally left, Xone's strength gave out and she collapsed to the ground, her legs sprawled out to either side as she sat there uncomprehendingly. She had absolutely no idea what the hell just happened, only that she was saved from an incredibly embarrassing and shameful experience. One thing for sure though, she now had a healthy fear, and respect, for rabbits. Never again would she underestimate them. She'd run screaming in the opposite direction if she ever saw another.

Xone looked around the zone, unsure as to what to do next. Both her own CPU and that of Planeptune were knocked out, unable to move, and she herself was exhausted.

But they couldn't stay here. With the boss monster gone, the Flame Fenrir and other powerful monsters would start migrating back into this zone. She had to get out of here, and take the CPU's with her.

After struggling to her feet Xone slowly made her way over to Vert. She'd get them to safety, or at least she'd get Vert to safety. She could probably feed Neptune to a Fenrir if things got dicey.


	7. Heading Home

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hyperdimension Neptunia. All characters, thoughts and ideas that exist in this story that were taken from the original works belong to their creators, Compile Heart and Idea Factory. Only original thoughts and or characters created in this story are my own.**

**Chapter 7: Heading Home**

Xone collapsed weakly onto the sole chair in her living room, her arms dangling limply over the side and her legs pressed tightly together, tucked beneath her. There wasn't anyone else conscious in the house so she didn't particularly care how she looked, especially considering how tired she was. She closed her eyes and rested her head back against the headrest. She instantly felt better by doing that one simple act.

Goddess, was she tired. The trip back from D's Inferno had been horrible. She had been exhausted from all the fighting, both because of the boss fight and all the monsters she had battled before then, and being burdened by her two unconscious party members had really slowed her down. Then she had been forced to fight many battles on the way back by herself, including some of the Flame Fenrirs that had caused her so much trouble at the start.

Thankfully clearing the dungeon had raised her level significantly and had given her plenty of battle experience, more than enough to squeak out a victory when facing those difficult enemies. That and when compared to the speed that the damned perverted rabbit had displayed they might as well be moving in slow motion. She hadn't missed a single shot against them; unlike the first time she faced the agile monster.

And despite half-hearted wishing she could feed Neptune to the Fenrir to get them off her tail, she never followed through with it. Despite everything about the ditzy girl, Neptune had saved Xone's life, and had been more than willing to risk her own life for the villagers that had treated her so poorly. That spoke volumes about the integrity of the character that lurked beneath the ditzy exterior.

While she had survived the battles, her outfit couldn't say the same. She had managed to recover most of her kunai before they had been dissolved by nature but that was it. The bottom left fringe of her dress was gone, having been torn off by the claws of a Flame Fenrir, and the other side of her top had been burned away by a lava burst from a walking volcano she had barely managed to evade.

Still, she herself had managed to evade injury for the most part, although she would need a bath or ten to wash off the thick layer of grim, dust, dirt and sweat that coated her body.

But she could worry about a bath AFTER she got some rest.

Xone thought about the woman sleeping on the large couch across from her on the other side of the room, Neptune. The purple-haired CPU was sound asleep; resting comfortably beneath the covers Xone herself had used two days prior when she had given Neptune her bed. Neptune was an enigma that Xone couldn't figure out. On the surface she seemed like a happy-go-lucky idiot that was the personification of stupidity and naivety. Yet beneath the surface was something far different.

She recalled the glares that the villagers had tossed at Neptune's unconscious form when they saw her dragging the two unconscious CPU's back from D's Inferno. The villagers did not like to see their 'precious Xone' tired and injured as she was, and had immediately laid all the blame on Neptune. That hadn't sat well with Xone at all. She had torn a strip off their hides and made them all flee with their tails between their legs. They, who did nothing but hide in their homes, had no right to criticize those that risked their lives.

That Neptune would risk her own life for people that cared nothing about hers was a trait that she couldn't help but admire. She and Vert had both been fighting for their people, Neptune had been fighting simply because it was the right thing to do.

And on top of that, the maturity she and seriousness she had displayed after she had transformed was like night and day compared to her smaller form. She wondered if all CPUs were like that, mature and amazing individuals while transformed but something far different while not.

Well, she was certain she'd find out once Vert woke up, her goddess was asleep in her bed at the moment.

Xone let out a content sigh and pulled the warm sheet closer, wrapping it tightly around her body. The muted sound of running water in the background was comforting, like a blanketing white noise that just washed away all the distractions.

She was about to fall into a deep slumber when a sudden thought struck her. She didn't remember grabbing a sheet, or leaving the faucet on in the bathroom.

Her eyes instantly flashed open as she forced herself awake. She had to fight a moment of paralysis before her body started to function properly again. There were definitely a sheet wrapped around her body, she could feel them even more keenly now that she was awake. They felt like the flannel ones she normally used for her bed.

The fact that she couldn't see very much, the only light available was the silvery light from the stars streaming in through the window and a small sliver of light coming out from under the bathroom, immediately brought another thing to her attention. It was night time, and by the looks of it, it was late in the evening or early in the morning. It had been a couple hours after sunrise when she had finally managed to drag Vert and Neptune to her home. That meant she had slept the entire day away and hadn't even been aware of it.

She strained her ears and picked up the soft breathing of someone across the room. Neptune it seemed was still asleep. Xone's mind quickly put the pieces together and came to a single conclusion.

They had all slept about twelve hours, at least, Vert was up, and had wrapped the bed sheet around her before heading to the bathroom to clean up. That was the only thing that made any sense.

Xone pushed herself up and uncurled her legs out from under her. She tended to curl up into a ball when she was asleep. It made getting up in the morning painful at times. She gingerly set her feet down upon the floor and slowly eased her weight on them. A chill went up her spine from the cold hardwood floor. The nights got cold on the side of the island.

Her muscles screamed in protest after being cramped for so long, and after a long twenty-four hours of journeying and fighting, but they held. She slowly stood up, making sure her cramped muscles didn`t give up. The sheet slid down her frame and pooled on the floor around her feet. She bent down and rubbed them a bit, easing the pain away.

Certain now that her legs wouldn`t collapse the moment she tried to take a step she quietly made her way across the room, being careful not to make any noise so as to awaken Neptune. She had been thrust into a near death experience a day after she had survived and recovered from another. It was no surprise to Xone that Neptune was still out of it. She didn`t expect the CPU of Planeptune to be up for a while yet.

Xone hesitated when she reached the door to the washroom, a little unsure if she should just walk in. There was no lock on the door, there was little need, she lived alone and hadn`t had a visitor before Neptune. She didn`t know the proper etiquette for this kind of situation. What`s more it was her goddess in there, Vert, Lady Green Heart, the woman she aspired to be like.

She didn`t even know what she would say if she did just walk in. What does one say to the object of your worship? The entire conversation when they had first met had been in the heat of the moment with Neptune guiding the conversation.

It had been easy to speak then, there hadn't been any reason to think or worry about consequences of her words.

But now that the encounter was pre-meditated, Xone couldn't help but bombard herself with worries and insecurities. Her non-existent chest was of great concern to Xone, more so than any other worry. Vert was known to take great pride in her enormous breasts. How would she look someone who had nothing at all?

The sound of running water was gone now, but she could hear the faint sound of water splashing around. Vert was obviously washing herself, getting rid of all the dirt and grim she had accumulated in battle at D's Inferno.

Xone let out a small sigh and took a step back from the door. She should leave her goddess to her bath. She didn't know what to say anyways and it was probably rude to just walk in on her when she was like that. She herself wouldn't have appreciated it if someone had walked in on her.

Well, so long as that person wasn't Lady Green Heart anyways. Her goddess could walk in on her whenever she wanted.

"How long are you going to stand there?"

Xone froze as Vert's motherly voice floated through the door. She had thought she had been quiet enough that no one had heard her. No, she was certain she hadn't made a sound, so how had Vert known she was there? What's more she had now she had upset her goddess…

"The door doesn't have a lock, Xone, you can come in."

Those words stole from her the ability to flee. As nervous as she was, she was not going to show weakness in front of her CPU. To run now would only subject her to humiliation later. Even if she didn't say anything at all, it was still better than running away.

Swallowing hard Xone placed a nervous hand on the door handle and turned the knob. Light flooded into the main room as the door opened, along with a blast of warm, damp air, a sharp contrast to the cool night air that filled the main room.

The nervous girl quickly entered the bathroom and closed the door gently behind her. She hoped the sudden burst of light hadn't awoken Neptune up but couldn't dwell too long on it. There were more important matters to deal with, such as emerging from this scenario with her pride still intact and her goddess not upset with her.

There was a low, amused chuckle behind her, followed by a gentle, motherly voice, "there's no need to be so nervous, I'm not going to bite."

Xone stiffened, and for a single moment she worried that her Goddess was omniscient. She seemed to be able to see through everything right. The young, platinum-haired girl forced herself to relax and worked on calming her rapidly beating her as she slowly turned to face Vert.

The CPU of Leanbox was casually lounging in a bathtub filled with warm water. She had one leg crossed over the other, the knee escaping from the water, while her back rested against the wall opposite the faucet. She had one arm draped lazily over the edge of the tub while the other brushed through her blonde hair, untangling any knots she found. Her large breasts that were the source of her pride floated on the surface of the water like two enormous flotation devices.

Vert was completely exposed for Xone to see, she didn't seem inclined to hide any aspect of her body. Despite what most games and animes tended to do, a bath scene doesn't automatically mean steam, which meant Xone had a clear view of everything. In fact, steam rarely occurred naturally inside a bathroom when one was just taking a simple bath, not enough warm water is produced to raise the humidity level of the room high enough to generate steam.

Swallowing hard again Xone gave Vert a small bow, "… sleep well, Lady Green Heart?" she asked, trying her utmost to keep her voice steady and neutral. Even if her Goddess did know she was nervous, there was no need to show it.

Vert let out another amused laugh, "yes, thank you, but there's no need to address me so formally. Just call me Vert."

Xone's eyes widened ever so slightly in surprise, "…disrespectful…" It wouldn't be right to address her CPU in any other way. This was her Goddess, the leader of her nation, her idol, she stood at the very top of Leanbox, above everyone else.

"I think it's more disrespectful to disobey your Goddess," Vert replied with an amused smile on her face. She found it cute how much effort Xone put into being respectful, most people in the country-side acted the same way, but the two of them had been through a life-or-death situation, had partied to fight a boss monster.

That made them comrades, she was like Vert's guild mates in Four Goddesses Online MMORPG, only more so since they had partied in real life against a true monster of a boss.

"… alright, Vert," Xone said tentatively, as if tasting the word for the first time and unsure whether or not she liked it.

"There, that wasn't so bad, now was it?" Vert asked with one eyebrow raised questioningly. She smiled when Xone shook her head, "you carried us back here?" The CPU had noticed that the house belonged to Xone when she had awoken. Being the CPU of Leanbox allowed her to bring up the statistics of any piece of property or dungeon in her land at a moment's notice.

Xone nodded, not trusting her voice at the moment.

"Then I must doubly thank you, for defeating the boss and rescuing me. I must admit that was not one of my better performances," Vert said sadly as she thought back to how effortlessly she had been beaten by a small white rabbit.

The young girl shook her head back and forth rapidly, "… wasn't me."

"Oh? Then who was it? I know I was beaten, and judging by the shape Neptune was in, she was beaten as well."

"... mother."

"Xone, don't cut sentences off, tell me the whole story, with full sentences." If Xone wasn't the one to defeat the rabbit, then she wanted to know who it was, and she didn't want to have to try and piece things together. While Xone's mode of speech was alright for every day conversation, it was not suited for recounting the past.

And so started probably the single most difficult and nerve wracking ten minutes of Xone's life. She explained, thoroughly, in detail, for her Goddess just what exactly had happened after she had been beaten unconscious; starting with her initial arrival at D's Inferno, her near death experience, and Neptune's swift rescue and continued on up to Neptune's equally swift defeat, to the near loss of her purity, and detailing how the rabbit's mother came in and beat him senseless and while tearing his ego apart.

She was going to spare Vert details about the trip back to the village but one look from Vert was all it took to make her go on. She continued to explain what happened right up until the end where Xone collapsed in her sofa chair and fell asleep.

Silence hung in the air for a few moments after Xone finished her story. It was almost deafening after the long explanation. Xone had spoken more in those ten minutes than she ever had over the course of her entire life. It felt more than a little strange. She wasn't sure if it was a good feeling, or a bad one. Regardless of how she felt about speaking, the silence afterwards was definitely nerve wracking. She didn't know how her goddess would react.

Thankfully the silence didn't last long. It was broken by the sound of water cascading down Vert's body as she rose from the bathtub. She stepped out of the bath and made her way across the room to Xone, leaving behind small pools of water as the bath water continued to run off her body.

Vert stopped just in front of Xone, and carefully eyed her up and down, taking in completely her state of being. She noted Xone's messy hair, steady but uncertain gaze, the stiffness in her body and uncertainty in her posture. Her body was so dirty she almost looked tanned and her dress was ruined beyond repair. It was easy to see that the young girl had gone through quite the ordeal and despite how she acted she was still suffering from what almost happened to her.

Xone jumped in surprise when she felt a pair of warm, wet arms wrap themselves around her shoulders. The next thing she knew her face was buried between two enormous breasts. She froze, not sure what to do, she had never been shown this type of affection before.

"There, there, you did good. It's over now, you can relax," Vert said soothingly as she gently rubbed Xone's back.

It was too much for the young girl. She tried to be tough, tried to be impassive, but she couldn't hold back anymore. She shook as silent sobs racked her body. Tears leaked from her eyes and disappeared amongst the other streams of water running down Vert's form. The day's events had simply been just too much to hold back in the face of such comforting warmth. The long struggle, the near death experience, surviving a rape attempt by sheer luck, and trying to measure up to the one person she looked up to more than anyone else was simply too much to hold back anymore.

The Goddess continued to gently rub the young girl's back as she wept into the Goddess' bosom. Tears of sorrow, tears of pain, tears of fear, tears of anxiety and panic, all flowed from the young girl as she spent herself within the arms of her Goddess.

Vert glanced up at the partially opened door and gave a small, gentle nod. The single, visible blue eye with the unique iris bobbed in return. The door closed soundlessly as the second Goddess stepped away and headed back to sleep.

She wouldn't be needed at all, she had awoken when the light had spilled into the room but had kept still for Xone's sake. She knew when she was, and wasn't needed, and right now Xone had everything she needed. She'd have to make sure to keep her mouth shut about what she heard, even as her smaller self. There were some areas one just did not tread upon, even in jest.

It was nearly thirty minutes later when the tears finally dried up and her body stopped shaking.

Vert stepped back and pulled the young girl from her bosom. She wiped a finger across Xone's tear stained eyes and gave her a small smile, "are you feeling any better?"

Xone nodded her head, not trusting herself to speak just yet. She definitely felt a lot lighter after having relieved all of her stress and anguish.

"Good, now, let's get you out of these ruined clothes and get you washed up," Vert said as she tugged what was left of Xone's dress down her legs. Her panties were quick to join the remains of her dress on the bathroom floor.

Xone didn't resist as Vert guided her across the room and into the bathtub. The water was still warm, small jets in the sides of the tub that recycled the water, keeping the water clean even when subjected to the dirtiest of individuals, also kept the water warm. Vert climbed into the bath and sat down in the warm water, bringing Xone down with her and positioning the young girl between her legs.

Vert grabbed the soap and began to wash Xone's back, washing away twenty-four hours of caked on mud, dirt, and sweat. Beneath the grime Vert couldn't help but admire the perfectly smooth, flawless skin, "You have nice skin," Vert complimented the young girl.

"… thank you," Xone said with a slight blush on her face. "you're better…"

Vert let out a small chuckle and smiled at the young girl's back, "My, that's nice of you to say, but of course I am. It's hardly fair to compare anyone to me, I make even the other Goddesses look bad." Finished with Xone's back her hands slipped around to the girl's front and began to wash her there.

Xone jumped in surprise and blushed heavily as Vert's fingers scrubbed her chest vigorously, "…ah," she didn't know what to say.

"Are you worried about their size?" Vert asked as she traced a finger around one of Xone's areola. Xone's face flushed in embarrassment and nodded her head ever so slightly. Vert smiled and patted Xone's breast before moving on to wash the rest of her front, "how old are you?"

"… sixteen."

"You're still growing, some women don't start development until much later," Vert said comfortingly.

"…really?" Xone asked in a hopeful voice. The size of her chest was her greatest source of concern.

"Really, and when we go back to my Basilicom I'll make sure you're fed the proper nutrients needed for growth."

That brightened Xone's mood immediately, a smile broke out on her face and dreams of large breasts danced across her mind. A sudden thought struck her though, bringing her down from her sudden high.

"… Basilicom?" Xone asked in confusion. This was where she lived, not in Leanbox.

"Oh? I never told you? I'm taking you home with me. You're much too good to leave out here." Plus it would give Chika someone else to fawn over instead of her all the time. Chika's adoration was nice and all, but it got in the way of her gaming sometimes. With Xone at her side she could split Chika's attention up and get in twice as much Four Goddesses Online gaming as usual. "Unless you don't want to…" Vert trailed off, making it sound as if she would be greatly disappointed if Xone didn't agree.

"…no," Xone shook her head vigorously, "… I'll go." There wasn't any way she was going to pass up this opportunity. She owed the villagers nothing and it would be nice to get away from the perverted elder that was constantly trying to sneak into her home to steal her panties.

"Great! It's settled then!" Vert said with a smile. The blonde haired goddess offered the soap to Xone who just looked at it in confusion, "since I washed your back, would you be so kind as to wash mine?"

"…Yes!" Xone said excitedly as she took the soap from Vert.

Despite all that had happened prior to now, there wasn't a better outcome that Xone could have hoped for. The young girl was all smiles as she turned around to wash the Goddess she looked up to so much.

**x~X~x**

The city of Leanbox, the capital of the island nation of Leanbox, was the second largest city in Gamindustri, just behind Planeptune, with a population of just over ten million residents. It was a modern day city set with a futuristic layout. The city had two layers, the ground level where most of the large business and office towers were located, and a second layer, suspended five hundred feet in the sky, was home to most of the residential buildings and small businesses designed to support them. The city layout was designed to look very similar to an enormous circuit board with the power lines, mass transit systems, and roadways laid out to emulate that design.

In the very center of Leanbox towered the Basilicom. It was an enormous structure in the shape of a large hollow rectangle. It towered nearly a mile into the sky and shadowed a large portion of the city during the day. It was painted pure white save for a small strip of black that ran up and across the center of the structure. Positioned in the very center, equidistance from either side of the structure, was a large design in the shape of an Xbox power button that glowed with a bright, green neon light at night.

Of the four great nations that controlled most of Gamindustri, Leanbox was the most militaristic of them. Much of their industry centered around weapons and machines, and similarly the console system that was associated with the nation possessed the greatest number of modern and futuristic simulators and first person shooter games.

The cities defenses were top notch as a result, capable of taking out any land, air, or sea based forces that approached it unannounced. There was very little it couldn't take out, nothing short of a super villain or a CPU would stand any chance at getting near the city without first properly identifying themselves.

The only reason it didn't shoot down the two people, plus one being carried, flying towards it was because of FOF identification software that recognized the green-haired individual as their CPU, the leader of the nation.

The two, Neptune and Vert, flew unhindered through the city, right up to the Basilicom, and through a large set of open windows that led to Vert's private sanctuary.

Although it was called a 'private sanctuary' it was set up very much like Neptune's back in Planeptune. In other words it was basically organized and designed to cater to the every whim of the Goddess that ruled over the nation. One could tell a lot about the personality of their goddess by taking a good long look at their rooms.

The floor looked as if it was constructed from a single slab of marble with an intricate white flower pattern design over a green background painted in the center in a hexagonal shape where one side was stretched so as to span the length of the rectangular room. Small pillars ran up the height of walls at regular intervals and spanned between each pillar was wall paper of similar color and design as the floor drawing. Positioned irregularly around the room on top of said wallpaper were large, framed images of erotic, romantic engagements, between two men giving a peek at Vert's hidden fetish about bishonen male characters being coupled in yaoi situations. A few bookshelves, filled to capacity with bishonen manga and homosexual romance novels, lined the walls. In the center of the room was a long table, with a dozen chairs on either side, that had boxes of games and manga on it.

The window they came through was the sole source of natural light in the room. There was a pair of double doors in the door, the one at the far end of the room led out into the rest of the Basilicom, while a pair of double doors on the right led to Vert's inner private sanctuary, and was currently closed tight.

"You didn't clean up before you left," Neptune said as she landed on the floor and slowly made her way across the room towards the table.

"Oh dear, I suppose not," Vert said as she landed and set Xone down. She had carried Xone bridal style the entire way here from her village. The young platinum haired girl was all cleaned up now and dressed in a spare set of her normal attire. She had brought along all her extra sets of clothing with her, along with most of her belongings in her home, not that she had very much to take with her. The furniture all came with the house, and would stay with the house.

Xone was looking around, taking in everything, wanting to know all there was to know about her CPU and trying not to look too amazed by it all. She still couldn't believe the incredible shift her life had gone through over the past forty-eight hours. She had basically gone from a loner/some-time defender of a backwater village that was so small it didn't appear on the maps, or even had a name, to being someone of import, having been hand-picked by Vert to stay with her.

The young girl made her way to the table where Neptune was, curious as to what was in the opened boxes. She didn't notice the bright light behind her as Vert returned to her normal form. a blonde-haired, blue-eyed, bombshell wearing a, long, emerald green dress with gold markings. The dress was split up either side up to her waist to allow for ease of movement. The base of it was white with gold pattern trim and around her waist was a large, pink ribbon. She had a pair white boots with green tops on her feet and a pair of white gloves which flared out past her wrist. Green and gold patterns were drawn upon the loose section of the gloves. Around her neck was a white collar with green trim with a small gold medallion, with a sapphire gem inset in the middle of it, attached to it. The dress was attached to the collar by way of transparent white fabric that exposed the tops of Vert's ample breasts.

"…this?" Xone asked as she picked a game out of one of the boxes. It had a rather fancy image of two men embracing one another on the cover, there were sparkles, roses and other glittery designs detailed across the surface.

"Is that not the new bishonen title, 'Lost in the Arctic?'" Neptune asked as she looked over at what was in Xone's hand and read the title. She walked up to Xone and plucked the game from her unsuspecting grasp, "I believe it's an R-18 title, though, you're too young for something like this."

"It is," Vert said, her face brightening as she saw the game in Neptune's hands. "Chika must have brought it here when it arrived after I left. I've been waiting for this for months now."

"What's a bishonen?" Xone asked with a confused look on her face. She had never heard that word before, although if she had to guess it had something to do with men, or maybe it was the plot.

Vert let out a gasp of surprise and stared at Xone with pure, utter pity in her eyes. She rushed to the young girl's side, whirling her around to face her and grasped her shoulders. "Oh, my dear Xone, you poor child, you had best prepare yourself. It is my duty to introduce you to a world the likes of which you have never seen!"

"You might want to wait until she is of age before you introduce her to this," Neptune said as she waved the game in their direction.

"Oh I'm certain she's mature enough to handle a little bump and grind," Vert said as she waved away Neptune's concerns. "She's not like…" she trailed off and stared at Neptune curiously.

"Not like what?" Neptune asked, wondering why Vert had trailed off. She placed the game back in the box with the instruction booklet, related manga and game guide that Vert had ordered with the game.

Vert just shook her head, "it's nothing." If Neptune didn't care that she was still transformed, then who was she to comment? Besides it was better this way, Neptune was more bearable in her HDD form.

"If you say so," Neptune said hesitantly as she gave Vert an odd look.

Xone just looked back and forth between the two of them, not understanding one bit what was going on. But that wasn't very surprising. Few humans could say they knew the CPU's very well.

Neptune and Vert had a history together, they'd known each other for hundreds of years, sometimes as allies, other times as enemies, and recently they'd been on amicable, if not friendly, terms. Most CPU's were currently on relatively friendly terms, although Planeptune and Lastation were definitely closer to each other than the other two nations and the same could be said of Lowee and Leanbox. The four nations opted more to maintaining the status quo then trying to upset the balance by stealing from the other nations.

The door to the sanctuary slammed open and a joyful voice cried out, "VERT!"

Vert placed a tolerant smile on her face as Chika, her Oracle, rushed into the room. Chika had long light green hair with a black and green ribbon tying portion of it into a ponytail in the back. Long bangs framed her face and accentuated her almond red eyes. She was dressed in a revealing black mini dress with black bows on both sides. Long frills draped off either side with bright sparkling green under-coloring to them. Her socks thigh high socks were black and were accompanied by matching black heels with purple bows in the center. Around her neck was a black collar with a purple ribbon inset with a large round pin shaped like the Xbox logo.

"How were things in my absence?" Vert asked her Oracle as said Oracle literally flew across the room to get to Vert, her arms outstretched and her face full of worry.

The moment Chika reached her Goddess her hands immediately began to explore her body, rubbing up and down looking for any sign of injury. "Are you ok, Vert? Are you hurt? Do you need me to perform CPR? What about dirty? I can scrub your back, rub your feet, lick your toes—." Chika stopped and whirled around to face Neptune. The woman pointed a shaking finger at Neptune and glared at her, "I know you're the reason! You're always the reason! What happened to my Vert? What did you do to her?" Neptune just smiled tolerantly at the accusations but said nothing. There wasn't any time to get a word in edge wise anyways as Chika had already dismissed her and focused her attention back on Vert, "do you want any tea? How about lunch, dinner and breakfast? You must be hungry, everyone knows Neptune can't cook—" Chika hushed instantly when Vert placed a finger on her lips.

"I'm fine, Chika, the dungeon is cleared, it just took a little longer than anticipated, and as odd as it sounds, Neptune didn't have anything to do with how long it took," Vert said comfortingly. The CPU of Leanbox guided her hyper-charged, anxiously worried Oracle over to the table where she sat her down in one of the chairs. "There's someone I'd like you to meet," she said as she waved a hand towards Xone, "this is Xone. She'll be staying with us."

Chika took a few deep, calming breaths, assured now that her Goddess was indeed safe and sound. As she calmed down her face took on a more business look. She turned to Xone and stared at her as if seeing her for the first time, which she was since her entire focus since entering the room had been Vert. Chika slowly got up out of the chair and made her way around the table to Xone. She bent down, hands on her hips, and scanned every inch of her body. She slowly paced around the young girl like a predator eying its meat, wondering what the best way to cook it might be. Needless to say it made the platinum haired girl rather nervous.

After making a full circuit Chika straightened and nodded her head to herself as if coming to a decision. She looked over at Vert and asked a single question, "can I dress her up?"

Xone jerked and her eyes widened in horror. For the first time since agreeing to come to Leanbox with Vert she started to question the decision. She glanced up at her idol, hoping against hope that she'd say no, that she'd decline the request. She wasn't some doll to be dressed up on a whim. She was a battle-hardened guardian fit for protecting Vert from all dangers, and drinking special nutrients to get bigger breasts.

However the smile on Vert's face didn't ease Xone's nerves at all. She simply looked at Xone with a small smile and said the one word that hammered the final nail into the coffin, "Yes."

"Thank you, Lady Vert!" Chika said happily as she threw her arms around Xone and hugged her as one would hug a new toy they had just received.

"…but!"

"Now, now, Xone, don't be selfish," Vert said in a motherly tone of voice. Giving Xone to Chika would easily double her play time. It wasn't the only reason Vert wanted to bring Xone home with her, it was also nice to have another person around which she can talk to and rely on of course, but the game time was definitely a big reason.

"Now, how were things in my absence?" Vert asked Chika, getting back to what probably mattered most to the people of Leanbox.

"Things are fine here, I was able to secure your pre-orders that came in while you were gone and I balanced the budget, shifting more funds from weapons development to MMO development to keep up with Planeptune."

"Should you be talking about this openly? I am standing right here you know," Neptune said with a wry expression on her face.

Chika waved away Neptune's concern as if they were irrelevant and went straight for the jugular, "Everyone knows you have no real say in things at Planeptune, Histoire runs things and she knows everything anyways. You're like a mascot character."

Neptune winced but didn't fire off a retort. As sad as it was, Chika was actually correct. She normally lazed around all day in her normal form playing games. She'd never cared about the actual day-to-day operations of the nation. In fact if anything she served to make things worse when she did. If she normally acted like she did now, in her HDD form, things would be different but that wasn't the case.

Still, it was a little hurtful to be considered nothing more than a mascot character. Perhaps she could do something about that? But that would interfere with her gaming time and relaxation, so it would definitely be difficult to go through with. Not to mention any resolution she made right now would essentially be tossed out the window once she reverted back to her human form.

"Now, now, no need to be insulting," Vert said as she tried to broker peace between the two of them, "even if everything you said _is_ true." 'Tried' was definitely the right word.

"As you say, Lady Vert, I won't mention how useless Neptune is and how no one counts on her when it comes to making any real decisions," Chika said with a completely straight face.

"And I'm surprised you can get any work done with your nose stuck so far up Vert's ass," Neptune retorted in a sarcastic voice.

Silence descended upon the room as everyone stared at Neptune like she had just grown a second head. Even the Neptune herself looked absolutely surprised by the words that had just come out of her mouth.

Chika was the first to recover, "Vert has a mighty fine ass!" she said with a sniff and raised her nose to the sky.

"Are you alright, Neptune?" Vert asked in concern, ignoring Chika's comment about her rear. Insulting other people was pretty much the last thing Neptune would do. It was the one thing you could pretty much guarantee that she WOULDN'T do.

"I'm… not sure," Neptune said as she touched her head lightly. There was a frown on her face as she tried to figure out the reason those words had come to her lips. She hadn't even thought about saying them. They had just… popped out.

She had definitely said them, but there hadn't been any inclination on her part TO say them. She was better than that. She wasn't someone that needed to sink herself to the level of petty insults to feel good about herself. She knew she was better than Chika, better than anyone really, which was why she never needed to rise to their insults.

"Then you should go home, you've already worried poor Histoire nearly to death," Chika replied flippantly. "You're lucky you have someone like her, Planeptune would already be a derelict city by now if it weren't for her."

Neptune gave Chika a concerned look, "what do you mean?"

"I mean that you're so incompetent that you can't do anything—"

"Not that," Neptune quickly interrupted Chika who was about to go on another rant about how bad Neptune was at governing. "What's this about Histoire?"

"Planeptune and Lastation have been turning Gamindustri upside down for the past week and a half looking for you."

"Chika, could you connect us to Planeptune," Vert asked quickly. The CPU of Leanbox quickly began clearing off the desk in the center of the room to provide a clean place to communicate with the Oracle of Planeptune. One should always look one's best during international communications.

Neptune didn't count since no one could really be worse than her.

"Of course, Lady Vert," Chika agreed with question and hurried over to the center of the table. She leaned over it, making sure her exposed chest dangled in such a way that Vert had a clear view down her dress, and pressed a small button inset near the middle.

A section of the table opened up and a small, rectangular black projector rose up out of the table. Chika pointed the device towards her Goddess, who was standing at the head of the table, and dialed the number of Planeptune's Basilicom.

It didn't take long for the line to connect and for someone to answer. The projector started to hum and blue light streamed from the video display. On the table a couple feet in front of Vert a blue holographic image of Histoire took shape. It was obvious from the bags under Histoire's eyes that she hadn't been getting a lot of sleep, if any at all, since Neptune disappeared.

"Good afternoon, Histoire," Vert greeted the tiny oracle.

"Good afternoon, Vert," Histoire returned the greeting politely. She tried to hide it but one could hear the undertones of exhaustion in her voice, "how was your excursion into D's Inferno?" Chika had mentioned that Vert had gone away to solve an internal problem when Histoire had called Leanbox a few days prior.

She had hoped Vert could help her locate Neptune since her attempt to search for Neptune in her book had failed. Considering her book contained all the knowledge of Gamindustri that had understandably sent her into a panic. The fact that Neptune had disappeared from her book terrified Histoire. The only silver lining there had been was that it hadn't mentioned anything about her death either. It would have recorded such an event, clear as day, but she hadn't found anything.

"It… could have gone better," Vert admitted, thinking back to her complete and utter defeat and miracle win due to the power of convenient plot device, "but the situation has been resolved and I'm no worse for wear."

"That is good to hear," Histoire said and let out a relieved sigh, "we don't need Gamindustri to lose a second Goddess so soon."

"About that…" Vert trailed off and looked to the side where Neptune was. The video recorder on the projector swivelled to point at Neptune.

"NEPTUNE!" Histoire shouted loudly, her voice filled with surprise and relief.

"Hi Histoire," Neptune said as she waved at her Oracle, "sorry about worrying you."

"Are you alright?" Histoire asked in concern, her large expressive eyes were filled with emotion at finding her CPU. "There's nothing wrong with your human form is there?"

As overjoyed as she was to see Neptune, it was odd to see her transformed outside of battle.

Neptune was momentarily engulfed by a bright purple light. When the light died down she was back in her human form, dressed in her original purple and white hoody. "Nope! I'm A-Ok Histoire! You don't have to worry about a thing. Plot devices will ALWAYS save the main character!" the small purple haired goddess shouted with a brilliant smile on her face, giving Histoire a peace sign to show that she was alright.

Histoire let out a sigh of relief. That was the old Neptune she was used to seeing. The childish, immature, fourth-wall breaking, ditzy idiot she had come to know. The same idiot she was going to give SUCH a lecture to the moment she returned home that her ears would bleed for the next week.

"You WILL come home, right now, Neptune," Histoire said sternly as she waggled a finger at her charge.

"Aww, but can't I stay here a bit longer?" Neptune whined. She reached to the side and snagged Xone, jerking her over to stand beside her, "I met this new friend, Xone, she's got an even flatter chest than me or Blanc!"

Xone's eye twitched in annoyance. She knew she had a flat chest but it was annoying to have it pointed out so blatantly, especially when it was used as her introduction to such an important person. She had to resist the temptation to elbow Neptune in the stomach, she wanted to give a good first impression.

Histoire noted the twitching eyebrow and covered her eyes with her hand, "You can hit her if you want."

"NEPUU-BLURGH!" Neptune doubled over as a sharp elbow hit her in the stomach.

"...thank you."

Vert made a motion towards the projector and the camera swivelled back to her, "I'll make sure she gets to Planeptune safely. If I left her to her own devices she'd get lost before she left the Basilicom."

"Thank you Vert, I will send some people to pick Neptune up at Leggo Island when she arrives."

"Hey! I wasn't done talking!" Neptune shouted as she slide into the picture between Vert and the projector, literally sliding across the table. "Don't you want to hear about my adventures Histoire?"

"No, I want you home," Histoire snapped at her.

"I even lost my first kiss!"

"I still don— wait what? Why would anyone want to kiss you?" Histoire asked, completely flabbergasted. That didn't make any sense. Neptune was loveable, but not in that way, never in that way.

"See, I knew you'd be interested! But what do you mean about that second part?" Neptune asked, bonking her head off the desk as she tried to tilt her head cutely, "why wouldn't someone want to kiss me? I'm like so totally super cute and stuff, far cuter than anyone out else."

"I-It's nothing," Histoire stammered, brushing away Neptune's question as quickly as she could. Neptune was right, but that was part of the problem.

"Aw, come on, tell me, tell me," Neptune asked eagerly as she scooted across the table to get even closer to the holographic image of her Oracle.

"Get off the table you barbarian!" Chika shouted as she grabbed Neptune's leg and yanked her towards the side.

"Whoa!" Neptune shouted as she was jerked away from Histoire's sight.

"Oh, hi girls, you want to kiss me as well?"

"Xone! Grab her arms!"

"…right."

"Wait, what are you doing, no, stop!"

"Right there!"

"Ka-thunk!"

"Whoa! Watch it, those things are sharp!"

Thunk, thunk, thunk, thunk.

"AH! Histoire! Help! I'm trapped!"

"Good work, Xone, that'll keep her in place while Lady Vert finishes her conversation with Histoire."

"…yes."

Vert let out an exasperated sigh as she watched her Oracle and latest addition restrain Neptune, "you don't need to pin her to the wall with your daggers—"

"—kunai"

"We're leaving now anyways." Vert turned back to the image of Histoire floating above the table. The little oracle had her face in her hands in embarrassment. Despite the embarrassment however Vert noted a little smile on her face. She was definitely happy to see Neptune up to her usual antics. "Unless you have something more you wish to discuss, Histoire?" the CPU of Leanbox asked.

Histoire lifted her face and shook her head, "no, just please bring her home as soon as possible. I need to lecture her long and hard about making people worried."

Vert nodded and reached for the console button, "I'll bring her home," she said and disconnected the link.

"Aww, Histoire's gone?" Neptune asked from beside Vert.

"How did you get there?!" Chika gasped out in surprise.

"Never underestimate my sneakiness!" Neptune crowed as she thrust her bare chest forward.

"…took clothes off." Xone noted as she stared at Neptune who was dressed in nothing but her underwear, boots and a pair of socks. Still stuck to the wall was her standard outfit.

"Neptune… put your clothes on, I'm taking you home," Vert said with a sigh. She didn't mind Neptune in her HDD form, but it was difficult to deal with her when she was like this.

Neptune hurried over to her hoody that was stuck to the wall and began pulled it off the kunai, "I can't wait to get home, I haven't had custard puddings in weeks."

**x~X~x**

Deep within the forests surrounding Planeptune the mysterious figure snapped shut the communication device. The device was a small purple and black X shaped piece of electronics that could be used to hack into communications systems. It had just been displaying the conversation between Histoire and Vert about Neptune.

It wasn't easy to hack into the communication systems, the mysterious figure had needed to use some malicious code to implant a back door for him to gain access. For most it would have been a nigh impossible task. For him however, someone who knew the security systems of Planeptune inside and out, it had been child's play.

"Did you get that?" he asked his pink-haired companion.

"Yes! My sister is coming home," Nepgear said excitedly and gave the mysterious individual a bright smile, her bright blue eyes shining with happiness. She couldn't wait to meet her sister again after so long.

"Yup, and this means your training is over," the mysterious individual returned. He pulled the camera out and tossed it to Nepgear, "this is yours I believe, unless you want me to continue to motivate you to work harder…" he trailed off, leaving the invitation open for acceptance.

"NO!" Nepgear shouted hurriedly, shutting the invitation down. She shied away from the mysterious figure, clutching the camera to her chest. She had gone through one nightmare after another due to his harsh and unusual punishments. She didn't know if she could handle anything worse.

"By the way, there was never any film in the camera."

"What the goodness?" Nepgear asked in surprise. She hurriedly turned the camera over and looked at the SD slot. It was empty, and from the dust inside it, it had been empty for quite some time. "Then what about all those pictures?"

"I only needed to motivate you, I didn't actually need the pictures," he said with a mischievous grin. "You know I wouldn't do anything to harm Planeptune, what do you think would have happened if some of those later images accidentally got leaked?"

Nepgear shuddered at that horrible thought. Planeptune's shares would plummet, sure, but the damage to her own reputation would be irreparable. The things she had to do, the clothes she wore, the poses she had been in… Planeptune would have forever been considered an R-18 nation, not to mention the fact that Nepgear would never be able to get married.

She hadn't been forced to do any 'sexual' acts, but she had certainly danced along that line in far too many weird and strange ways for comfort.

Nepgear never did manage to hit him either, still, at level eighty-one she had regained a quarter of her original strength. She had never dreamed of regaining this much power this quickly, so she owed him that much. Of course, due to everything she had been forced to endure, she refused to admit that she owed him anything else. She had more than paid her due to him for bringing her back to life and leveling her up this quickly.

"Anyways, could you stand on this?" the mysterious figure asked as he pointed at a strange contraption on the ground.

"That's not going to strip me of my clothing is it?" Nepgear asked suspiciously as she slowly floated her way over to the device. She had suffered that bit of embarrassment too much already. True she was almost totally numb to it now, but she still didn't want to go through it again.

"No, I'm done with that for now."

She didn't like that 'for now' bit but she could worry about that later, "Then what is it for?"

"Neptune's going to need some help, even with Vert and Xone there with her," the mysterious figure said as he tapped a handle that laid beside the device.

"What do you mean?" Neptune asked as she stepped up onto the contraption. Now that she got a good look at it, it looked very much like a customized springboard.

The mysterious man looked away for a moment as he composed his words, he had to be careful here. "There is something in the waters between Leanbox and Planeptune. It's far too powerful for Neptune and the others to defeat."

Nepgear gave the mysterious individual a worried look, "what is it?" she asked, almost dreading the answer. There weren't very many things that could worry her friend.

"Remember that viral creature? The Leviathan Mk-1?" the mysterious figure asked.

"Yes…" her eyes widened in realization, "there's one here?!" she gasped out in horror. That thing was enormous. It wasn't very powerful but it had incredibly high HP and regenerative capabilities. If you couldn't out-damage its passive regen status, you could never kill it. It would simply wear you down until you were too weak to defend against it anymore.

As far as Nepgear knew, there was nothing in this Gamindustri that could bring it down. Nothing except her and her companion anyways. At her current level her damage would be high enough to overcome the passive regeneration.

Plus she had fought and killed some before. She knew its weak points.

"Yes, don't worry though, with the tortu-I mean training I put you through you should be strong enough to beat it."

"But sis isn't!"

"Which is why I'm going to send you to help her," he said with a wicked grin on his face.

Nepgear suddenly became very afraid. She knew that grin, it was the same grin he had on his face every time he pulled out a new set of… toys for her punishment game.

He pulled the lever.

There was a giant whoosh and Nepgear was launched into the sky at supersonic speeds.

"What the gooooodnesssss?" Nepgear wailed as she hurtled through the air.

"Have fun!" the mysterious man said as he waved his hand at the disappearing Nepgear. He chuckled to himself after she had disappeared into the horizon. Nepgear was so easy to tease.

And he hated keeping secrets from her, but it was necessary. He knew why the Leviathan Mk-1 was here, and he was partly to blame for it, even if he hadn't personally brought it over. A few heroes had already been killed trying to take it out. Neptune would never get to meet Red or Cave.

And by proxy, 5pb, who never got the protection she needed to keep her safe from over enthusiastic fans.

It made him feel a little guilty.

But just a little.

**x~X~x**

It was a beautiful day at sea. The sun was shining with nary a cloud in sight. The waters were calm, only gentle, rolling waves could be seen as far as the eye could see. A gentle breeze rolled in from the east, strong enough to give relief from the warm sun but not so strong as to cause any problems for ocean goers.

An enormous mile long luxury yacht cut through the sea with ease not even noticing the waves or the breeze. Aside from its size it was armored with the latest protections from Leanbox and equipped with a drive-core that could easily push something thrice the size without problems. It was unarmoured, of course, but the fleet of cruisers, battleships, carriers, and submarines that escorted it provided all the fire-power it needed.

It was the personal yacht of Green Heart, the CPU of Leanbox, and wherever it went, the military might of Leanbox went with it, as a show of force and solidarity. Being an island nation, almost half the military budget of Leanbox was funneled into its naval division. Leanbox possessed undisputed naval dominance in Gamindustri, surpassing the other three nations combined; it needed to considering it was split from the mainland.

The ship was filled with all sorts of amenities. It was virtually a floating city. If you wanted it, it could be found somewhere on the ship. The front deck of the ship had an enormous, olympic sized swimming pool with its own poolside bar

Beside that bar, lying back on a white, elegant lounge chair was beautiful, blonde haired busty woman wearing a bathing suit. The bathing suit was an elegant white and purple, star patterned two-piece string bikini with a loose flowing skirt completed with a pair of brown sandals with a pink flower adornment. Around her ankles and wrists were some simple, gold bracelets.

There was a pair of sunglasses on her face as she relaxed beneath an umbrella that blocked out the sunlight, sipping on a martini served to her from the poolside bar.

"I should do this more often," Vert said with a content smile on her face as she downed the rest of her drink and set the empty glass down on the table beside her. One of the half dozen servants on hand to serve her every need instantly picked up the empty glass and quickly made her way to the bar to clean it. A fresh martini was already served up to her.

"I guess, but do you really need to do all this?" Neptune asked as she looked around. They were on an amazing yacht, sure, but they were surrounded by a massive military fleet. One that went to great efforts to make sure no unauthorized vessels got close to their Goddess, which essentially meant 'all' vessels.

"Can never be too careful with you around," Vert said simply as she picked up her freshly served martini and took a sip.

"I kinda meant what you did to me," Neptune said as she bobbed her head down, unable to move her arms or her legs. She was trussed up with large, thick rope, and tied quite securely to one of the large mooring posts near the side of the ship. To make sure she was extra good and trapped Xone had lent Vert four dozen kunai which had then been used to fasten every piece of cloth Neptune had to the ground.

"I know," Vert replied simply. That's what she had been referring to in the first place. "I promised Histoire I'd see you to Leggo Island."

"But I want to swim in the pool with Xone!" Neptune whined pitifully as she struggled to break free. It wasn't fair that she was the only one not allowed to play.

"… fun," Xone said as she paddled around carefully. She was in a new bathing suit Vert had purchased for her. It was a simple, black with green lining one-piece swimsuit that went around her neck and rode up to her waist before it wrapped around to her back; it left most of her upper back exposed. There was a round orange flotation device, patterned with little green and black stars and circles, wrapped securely around her waist. She slowly paddled her way around the pool, having never swum before it was a novel experience for her so she wanted to savor it as much as possible. She'd have to put effort into learning how to swim properly soon, it was enjoyable.

"This is so unfair, why does Xone get to swim and I don't?" Neptune complained.

"Because Xone didn't tie herself to the mast during a powerful lightning storm so she could be whipped around like a rollercoaster while chasing custard flavored stars," Vert pointed out.

"I promise I won't do it again!"

"You expect me to trust you? You have the shortest memory in Gamindustri."

"Well… there's no mast to tie myself to here."

"Which is a good thing since you got someone killed last time you did," Vert said as she closed her eyes and sipped on her martini. Because her eyes were closed she completely missed Neptune flinch violently at that accusation.

"I know…" Neptune whispered. She had been trying hard not to remember that incident. It had seemed like such a good idea at the time. But it had turned out to be anything but when her antics had gotten her most devoted fan killed.

She knew he was dead, as she and Vert had looked into the registry for Random NPC names and Random NPC 60173 had been recycled and given to a new random NPC. What was more was that there was no record of anyone with the name Neptune's Aworing Fan. Despite his unique name, he was still considered a random NPC, which meant if he died, any trace of his existence outside of the memories of important individuals would be erased.

Gamindustri was not very kind to those it deemed needless.

She had gotten many people killed over the years fighting in wars against the other nations, but those NPC's knew what they were getting into, they were ready to lay their lives down for their nation and their Goddess. Because of their unique role Gamindustri even treated them as special characters and recorded their deaths for future generations to remember.

Rare was the time when she got someone killed because her silliness and stupidity, and that was the first time it had been a civilian instead of someone who was prepared to give their life for her.

Vert frowned, and gave Neptune a thoughtful look. The small purple-haired goddess seemed genuinely remorseful about her actions, which was odd coming from Neptune in her normal form. Still this was Neptune. Who was to say she wouldn't just find some other dumb thing to do. Letting out a sigh of resignation, the CPU of Leanbox snapped her fingers and pointed at Neptune. Two of the servants on hand at her side immediately moved over to Neptune and quickly untied her from the mooring post.

The chances of Neptune doing something stupid was one hundred percent but they were almost at Leggo Island now, it was only a couple hours away, and Vert wasn't completely heartless. It was obvious that Neptune regretted her actions.

"Thanks Vert!" Neptune said as she rushed past the lounging goddess. With a whoop Neptune leapt into the air, ripped her clothes off, and did a cannonball into the pool, sending water splashing all over the place.

Neptune popped up from underwater wearing an orange strapless string bikini and floated on her back. She spat out the water she had swallowed, creating a small fountain like effect above her mouth.

Not even thirty seconds had passed before Neptune grew bored with simply swimming in the pool. A mischievous smile crossed her face as she glanced over at Xone who was still paddling around the pool inside her tube.

With nary a ripple Neptune slipped underwater and swiftly made her way to the platinum haired girl. She popped up beside the girl and yanked the inner tube over her head, causing the young girl to disappear under the water in surprise.

"Haha! I got your tube! You don't—"

Xone stood up.

The water was shallow enough that Xone could touch the bottom but Neptune couldn't.

"Uh oh…" Neptune said, suddenly having a very bad feeling about where this was heading.

Xone slipped a hand beneath her swim suit and pulled out a kunai.

Neptune REALLY didn't like where this was about to go.

"How do you even hide those things in there?!" Neptune protested indignantly. That was so not fair, it was like totally cheating.

"… swim," Xone said in a not so nice tone and threw the kunai.

"NEPUU!" Neptune shouted as she dodged the kunai by a hairs breath. When Xone pulled out two more she turned and beat a hasty retreat across the pool. Two kunai whizzed past her, narrowly missing her soft, tender skin. "This feels like deja-vu!" Neptune complained as she swam for her life.

"Xone…" Vert started. Neptune's hopes rose thinking that perhaps Vert was going to step in and save her from this. Those kunai could hurt someone! "How long can you keep that up?"

That wasn't what Neptune wanted to hear.

"… all day."

Neither was that.

"Good, keep her swimming until we reach Leggo Island."

Especially that!

"… yes Vert."

"Noooo!" Neptune wailed in protest.

Xone threw another kunai and there was a massive explosion and the ship rocked sideways, causing a large wave of water to crest over the side of the pool and across the deck of the ship.

Neptune was almost thrown out of the pool when the yacht tripped to the side, only managing to stay in out of pure luck, "Holy crapparoni! She's really whippin' those things at me!"

"That wasn't Xone! Get out of the pool, both of you!" Vert snapped as she leapt to her feet and rushed across the deck to the starboard side of the ship. Something was going on, there was no way Xone's kunai, no matter how much force they were hurled with, could cause the ship to rock sideways. Especially since Xone threw them towards the bow of the ship.

Xone jumped out of the water instantly and quickly hurried over to Vert's side. Neptune was there soon after, leaning over the railing with her eyes shadowed with her hand.

It didn't take them long to figure out what had caused the massive yacht to tip. One of the battle cruiser escort vessels was rapidly sinking to the bottom of the ocean. There was a massive gouge along the side of the yacht. Something had literally picked thrown the battle cruiser into the side of the ship.

"That can't be good," Neptune said as she eyed the large hole in the ship.

"… monster?" Xone asked as she looked over at Vert, she had one hand stretched out to the side, grasping the back of Neptune's bikini top to ensure that she didn't fall overboard.

Before Vert could respond two large tentacles erupted from the water and wrapped themselves around a destroyer just off the starboard side. There was a horrible screech of metal being torn asunder and with a massive boom that sent chunks of metal hurtling across the ocean, the destroyer was ripped in half.

"Another boss monster!" Neptune shouted in excitement "Think this one is hacked like the last one?"

The tentacles whipped the two halves of the destroyer through the air. One of the pieces soared over the yacht and slammed into another destroyer on the other side, causing it to explode into a massive fiery ball of death. The other half slammed into the side of the yacht, rocking it a second time and tearing a second hole into the reinforced ship.

A green pillar of light engulfed Vert. Her bathing suit disappeared, her chest enlarged and her body became more full and mature. Her brilliant blonde hair turned a sea-foam green and a revealing, skin-tight body suit wrapped itself around her. The pillar of light disappeared with a bright flash of light and Vert reappeared, floating in all her glory, a massive futuristic, five-pronged spear in her hands.

"Neptune…" Vert said in a terse voice.

"Right! This is definitely transformation time!" Neptune said cheerfully and activated her transformation.

Like Vert, she too was engulfed in a pillar of light, this one was purple. Her bathing suit disappeared and her body grew, becoming more full and mature. A skin-tight black and purple body suit appeared on her frame. The purple pillar of light died down to reveal Purple Heart, the CPU of Planeptune with a massive eight foot long futuristic sword in her hands. "Transformation complete!"

"…" Xone looked back and forth between the two CPU's. If they were transforming, this was serious. She reached for her inventory to pull out her normal attire but was stopped when Vert laid a hand on her wrist.

"Keep that on, this ship may not survive this battle."

"… can't swim."

"You may not have a choice."

"Vert, Xone, here it comes!" Neptune shouted a warning as a massive dark shadow swam under the yacht. They didn't have much time to prepare as dozens of enormous tentacles rose up on either side of the ship and wrapped themselves around it.

Neptune reacted instantly, slashing into the nearest tentacle. Her powerful blade cut half way through the thirty foot thick tentacle with a single blow. Blood and pixels spurted from the massive wound.

Vert was quick to capitalize on the injury. She unleashed seven blistering strikes in rapid succession, tearing the rest of the way through the weakened tentacle, severing a large three hundred foot section of it. The severed tentacle exploded into pixels and the bloody stump disappeared back into the water.

"It doesn't appear to have very high defence," Neptune said, noting how easily they had cut through the long appendage.

"It doesn't need it," Vert said as she glanced around her ship. The giant HP bar floating above the ship that belonged to the massive sea monster, showed an insane amount of HP. Their attack had only taken off a tiny sliver of its health. Each tentacle only equated itself to a fraction of the overall health.

"… the ship…" Xone murmured nervously as it began to groan dangerously.

Xone brought up the point that Vert was hinting at. There were a lot of tentacles; they'd destroy the ship long before they were able to take them all out. They would need help if they wanted to save the ship, and a lot of it.

Thankfully Vert knew where to look to ask for it.

Vert opened up a communication line with the carrier, "Admiral, target the tentacles and open fire!"

"What about you, Lady Green Heart?" came the worried response from the Admiral. They'd have already opened fired by now if it weren't for the fact that they were worried about hitting their Goddess.

"We'll handle the tentacles at the front of the ship, have the fleet take care of the rest."

"As you command, Lady Green Heart."

With that acknowledgement the ships escorting the yacht began targeting the tentacles. Weapon systems came online and massive turrets and artillery cannons swivelled to face the ship. Booms and cracks pierced the air as laser weapons, missiles, and rail guns began to blast holes into the tentacles crushing the ship. Some of them missed, causing enormous amounts of damage to the ship, but it was better than the alternative.

"Neptune! Xone! Leave the tentacles at the back to the escort, we'll take the three at the front,"

"Roger!" "…Yes!"

Vert turned on her heel and shot towards the nearest tentacle on the starboard side. Neptune cratered the deck of the ship as she shot towards the port side and Xone headed for the front, flipping over and ignoring the two tentacles that Vert and Neptune were going to take care of. There a tentacle was about to rip the nose of the ship off.

Vert closed the distance between her and the tentacle in an instant. A large green spherical runic grid appeared beside the CPU of Leanbox as she poured some of her SP into a powerful attack. "Sylhet Spear!" she shouted, thrusting her palm at the tentacle. A massive spiral spear shot out from the center of the sphere grid and tore a massive hole through the center of the tentacle. Two more quick standard thrusts were all it took to sever it completely. The severed portion of the tentacle exploded into pixels and the bloody stump slid back into the water.

On the other side of the ship Neptune reached her target, "There!" the CPU shouted as her processor detected a slight weak point in the tentacle, "Critical Edge!" Three rapid strikes tore a large gouge in the side of the tentacle. Neptune paused for a brief moment as she gathered her strength, then, in a single, blistering speed of movement too fast to follow, she disappeared and reappeared on the opposite side of the tentacle, her blade outstretched to the side. A powerful shockwave of air and force ripped the tentacle apart, causing it to explode in a shower of pixels. Like Vert's, the bloody remains of the stump slipped back into the water, leaving the front of the ship clear save for Xone's.

Xone frowned slightly as she neared her target, unsure how she was going to deal with it. Her speciality was pinpoint critical strikes designed to taking an enemy out in a single strike. She wasn't specialized for cutting down large boss monsters.

But she wasn't going to let her CPU down after she entrusted her with this task. She'd just have to try her best and hope it was enough.

She reached into her swim suit and pulled out five, three-pronged kunai. She had them made for her while she was at Leanbox, before setting out. There hadn't been time to make many, hopefully five would be enough.

Xone went into the zone, her eyes analyzed her target, finding every single flaw and strength, all its status effects and immunities. With the way it was curled around the nose she would have to strike at it near the water line, a blind shot and near impossible to achieve against a moving target.

Near impossible for anyone that wasn't Xone. "…unnamed Attack?" she said quietly and hurled the five tri-pronged kunai, arching them over the edge of the ship and giving them just enough spin and rotation to curve them around. Xone knew she had hit her target even before they reached it. She could see them tracing the trajectory she had drawn with her imagination. There were five meaty thunks as the tri-pronged kunai punched deep holes into the soft fleshy meat of the tentacle. All five had hit their mark dead on, striking five weak points in the flesh near the water line.

It wasn't enough and Xone knew that, she had known before she had even begun her attacks. She was far from finished. Her hands dipped inside her swimsuit again to grasp her standard kunai.

She stopped on a dime and began to spin. Kunai after kunai shot away from her spinning form as her hands dipped under her swimsuit and pulled out an impossible amount of sharp, pointy implements of hurt. Over a hundred kunai were hurled through the air in the span of two seconds.

"I never miss!" Xone shouted victoriously as the kunai curved around the edge of the ship. Like magic the tri-pronged kunai attracted the standard kunai to them, twenty to each. All one hundred kunai, empowered by Xone's SP and enhanced by the tri-prong kunais, sped up, breaking the sound barrier as they all reached super-sonic speeds.

The tentacle didn't last as a hundred, supersonic weapons of death ripped through it like it was tissue paper. The severed tentacle exploded into pixels.

Xone finished her spin with her legs spread far apart, arms stretched out to either side with her head bowed, her platinum hair shielding her face. The air around her screamed and a hundred and five kunai surrounded her, hovering in place, summoned by her power.

"Good work, Xone," Vert said as she rushed over to the young girl's side. She had thought that Xone would need help but apparently that wasn't required at all. She'd definitely have to re-evaluate the combat potential she possessed. It was most certainly far above that of even the average adventurer.

"… thank you." Xone said with a slight blush, happy at being praised by her Goddess.

Vert gave her newest companion a small smile. She was definitely shaping up to be something, there was a slight problem however. "We're going to work on your naming convention, later though."

"I'm sure she'll be fine with a little time, her other named attacks turned out alright," Neptune said as she floated over to them. She remembered when they had partied in D's Inferno and all the interesting names she had used for her attacks. "But that can be sorted out later. This is about the time the boss make his appearance."

Especially since the other tentacles that had been wrapped around the ship were destroyed or in the final stages of being destroyed. The ship had taken a seriously beating in the process however. Enormous holes had been torn into the sides of the ship. Fires rampaged through various levels of the ship, burning out entire rooms before the sprinkler system could douse them. The ships, too, had taken some casualties. Some of the tentacles had switched targets from the cruise ship to their attackers. Several cruisers were slowly sinking, torn in half by irate tentacles.

It was the perfect time for the big boss himself to appear, like those transformation or transition scenes in most games.

And true to Neptune's words, the waters in front of the yacht began to churn and broil as something enormous moved and shifted just beneath the surface. With a powerful surge the large, dark shape hiding just beneath the waves erupted from the water. The water surged over the bow of the boat and rushed across the deck, washing anyone who wasn't floating off their feet.

Xone only managed to keep her two feet planted on the ground thanks to Vert's quick reaction. The CPU of Leanbox grabbed a hold of the young girl and used her power to steady her against the rush of water.

And from the bow of the ship rose a massive, behemoth of a creature. Its dark purple skin was slick with black ichor. Four newly regenerated tentacles rose up out of the water, two on either side, and hovered menacingly above them. Dozens of smaller tentacles, each one easily three feet wide with a mouth large enough to swallow a man hole, sprouted from its head. Red eyes glowed malevolently down at the two CPU's and their companion as it rose above them, towering nearly a hundred feet into the air. It was easily twice as wide as the ship itself was.

It was a target near impossible to miss, but also a target almost impossible to bring down by conventional means. The moment it appeared the escort ships had open fired on it. With a target that big there was plenty of surface area for them to aim at while still keeping away from their Goddess. However while the tentacles were weak and easily destroyed, the defense on the main body was too high for standard, fodder weapons to have any effect.

"How are we supposed to fight this?" Neptune asked as she stared up at the enormous monster incredulously. Aside from the main body, whose HP was regenerating at an incredible pace, each of the smaller tentacles had their own HP bars, as did the four large ones surrounding them.

"Giving up already?" Vert asked her fellow CPU with a little smirk on her face.

Neptune glanced over at Vert and smirked as well, "Never."

"Good, because here it comes!"

With a scream like the sound of a thousand horny angels the massive boss monster attacked.


	8. Nepgear

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hyperdimension Neptunia. All characters, thoughts and ideas that exist in this story that were taken from the original works belong to their creators, Compile Heart and Idea Factory. Only original thoughts and or characters created in this story are my own.**

**Chapter 8: Nepgear**

Nepgear kept her eyes on the horizon as she scanned for any sign of her sister. She had just passed Leggo Island and was now out over the ocean. She knew she had to be getting close, and would arrive soon considering her air-speed velocity.

That man could be so incredibly frustrating. He had the most insane and wacky ideas at times. In that regard he was a good match for Neptune, but unlike Neptune, his ideas got results, very good results. Despite being launched like a projectile from a catapult-like contraption, Nepgear had to admit she got here a lot faster than she could have by any other means. There was no way her normal flight speed could come anywhere near matching this speed. It was actually kind of cool to go super-sonic for so long, she had never flown at this speed before.

It still would have been nice to have been told before he pulled the lever. He always did enjoy watching other people's shocked expressions.

Her mind wandered slightly as she continued over the water, wondering idly if she could make a set of booster rockets that could propel herself past the super-sonic barrier. This was a very cool experience. Her mind quickly drew up some rough schematics on how to do just that, schematics that slowly evolved as a torso, head, arms and legs were attached to the booster rockets. Nepgear's eyes sparkled.

"Perhaps I could make a giant robot that I could ride on!" That would be the greatest. She'd have to see if her sister would help her fund it secretly. Histoire would no doubt protest against such a frivolous waste of Planeptune's funding.

A glint of light out in the distance drew her out of her daydream. She squinted hard as she tried to make out what it was. There was light reflecting off metal in the distance; it must be the fleet. More glints appeared as she quickly ate up more ground. The soon grew until she could make out each individual ship.

There were a dozen of them floating around an enormous ship, with about a half dozen other ones slowly sinking to the bottom of the ocean. The twelve ships were firing upon something huge that was latched onto the front of the enormous ship.

Nepgear's eyes narrowed, she knew what that was: The Leviathan Mk-1. It was already attacking the ship and the escort vessels were doing their best to bring it down. Nepgear knew that they wouldn't be very effective. That's just the way things were in these types of situations.

As she rapidly approached the port side of the ship she could make out some small figures on the deck of the large cruise ship fighting against the massive creature. She recognized all three of them.

There was the familiar green and white of the CPU of Leanbox, Vert, using her lightning quick strikes and flexible, agile body, to pound holes into the Leviathan whenever an opening presented itself to her. Her beautiful sea-foam hair trailed her every movement.

At the rear where she always fought in their battles together, was Xone. Her kunai flashing through the air as quickly and precisely as Nepgear remembered. She lacked the variety Nepgear remembered, but everything else was the same.

And there, in the middle, cutting down the tentacles, small and large alike to give Vert the openings she needed to strike the main body, was the one person Nepgear wanted to see more than anyone else: Neptune. Nepgear could feel tears starting to well up in her eyes at the sight of her sister and she had to fight to hold them back. It had been so long since she had last seen her it almost hurt to see her again.

Watching the three of them attack together Nepgear knew that they'd never win. He had been right, Neptune needed her help. Nepgear wouldn't let her sister down this time, not like before. She never wanted to see that look on her sister's face again.

Or feel the cold emptiness that had followed.

Nepgear halted her forward movement as she arrived above the yacht, flaring her large, pink glowing butterfly-shaped wings out to either side to slow herself down. She pulled her enormous white beam saber from her inventory and held it at the ready. The bottom half of the weapon was as long as she was tall and a pink plasma field coated the bottom of it allowing it to cut through almost anything. The top half was only half the length, but almost as high as it was long. A fusion power cell in the upper part of the weapon provided the energy for the energy beam the weapon could shoot from the focusing lens located between the two halves.

Tucking her wings behind her, Nepgear flipped upside down and shot down towards the deck of the ship. She raised her gun and took aim at the Leviathan.

She wouldn't fail ever again.

**~o~**

Neptune shifted to the side as one of the smaller tentacles lunged passed her in its attempt to swallow her hole. Her blade flashed through the air and cleaved the tentacle in two. The severed end exploded into pixels as the bloody stump retracted back into the main body to heal.

Just like it had the other dozen times or so Neptune had cut apart that same appendage. It was getting repetitive and annoying. What's worse, it was slowly wearing her down. She couldn't keep this up forever, eventually exhaustion would get the best of her and it would be over.

"We need to come up with a new plan!" Neptune shouted over to Vert who was taking advantage of the opening Neptune had just carved for her.

"I'm willing to listen," Vert said tersely as she slammed seven rapid strikes into the body of the boss monster. The other smaller tentacles swarmed towards her, forcing the busty goddess to retreat before she could get a truly solid hit in.

"… regeneration," Xone said unhappily as she blew away two of the tentacles that came too close to her CPU for her liking. Using the tri-pronged kunai as a marker she could blast through the smaller tentacles with ease.

Xone's words didn't need to be said, they all knew it. Despite the damage they were doing to it, it was regenerating faster than they could hurt it. This was an endless battle, one they would lose once they became too exhausted to dodge the monster anymore.

Neptune scanned the enormous boss monster as she desperately tried to find some sort of weakness they could exploit. If they could find a weakness they could perhaps finally be able to out damage its regenerative capabilities. However between all the tentacles, the thick hide, and the fact that it could move its organs, she couldn't see any—

"Neptune, watch out!" Vert shouted in warning.

She reacted on instinct. She threw herself backwards, hoping to avoid whatever it was that was heading her way. Up to this point all attacks had come from the front or above, so throwing herself back would avoid them.

Only she realized too late that it was different this time, the attack was coming from behind. One of the enormous tentacles used to rip ships apart was sweeping its way across the deck, and she had just thrown herself right into it.

Everything slowed down as she saw her impending doom coming towards her. She didn't have enough time to get her sword positioned properly for a counter-attack. This was it, the mistake caused by exhaustion and prolonged battle. The blow wouldn't kill her, neither would the follow up attacks, but it would weaken her enough that she wouldn't be able to properly cover Vert.

It was the beginning of the end.

An unfamiliar voice rang out across the ocean, clear as a clarion bell.

"NEPTUNE!"

A massive pink and purple beam filled Neptune's vision. The tentacle before her disintegrated in an instant. The beam continued on, barely slowed by the thick tentacle, and punched its way through the deck of the ship, tearing down three levels before it finally dissipated. When the energy was gone Neptune could only stare on in surprise at her sudden and unexpected rescue.

A slew of smaller beams slammed into the deck around her, destroying the smaller tentacles that had already begun to descend upon the CPU of Planeptune, hoping that capitulate on her earlier mistake.

"Neptune! Are you alright?" the same voice from before asked. The voice was filled with concern.

Everyone looked up at the newcomer, including the Leviathan. Its giant bulbous eyes were filled with just as much confusion as Neptune's and the others. There, floating fifteen feet above them was someone none of them had seen before. A beautiful young girl with brilliant blue eyes and pink hair wearing a bodysuit that could have been an identical match to Neptune's save that it was white with lilac colored accents and trim.

And in her hands was an enormous beam saber, obviously the weapon she had used to rescue Neptune.

"Who…?" Neptune trailed off.

Nepgear floated down to her sister's side and gave her a brilliant smile. Her eyes shone with tears for some reason. "I'm Nepgear! The CPU Candidate of Planeptune! I'm your little sister!"

"My little sister?" Neptune asked in disbelief. It wasn't that she was particularly opposed to having a little sister. It was just rather sudden and out of the blue and not in a particularly family friendly sort of event.

"Yes!" Nepgear said, her smile never leaving her face. She looked over at Vert and Xone and gave the two of them a smile as well. "Hello Vert, Xone, good to see you two."

"… hello," Xone said as she nodded her head politely. She had no idea who the girl was, but that didn't mean she couldn't be courteous.

"Likewise," Vert said slowly as she eyed Nepgear cautiously. The newcomer was a curiosity that Vert was trying to figure out. She was certainly a CPU, her abilities gave credence to that as did her obvious CPU like transformation, but her title and relation to Neptune was rather curious. But that could all be figured out later, "unfortunately you seem to have joined a hopeless battle. This boss monster regenerates too quickly to kill."

"It's not a boss monster," Nepgear disagreed with a shake of her head. These were just common enemies, powerful, large common enemies, but hardly what she would have considered 'boss' level quality, "but never mind that, I know this monster's weakness. We can beat it."

"I'm open to ideas, cutting it from the outside doesn't seem to do anything," Neptune said as she stared at the regenerating tentacles in annoyance.

"I know, it's a multi-stage fight. The final stage requires us to attack it from the inside," Nepgear said as she turned back to smile at her sister.

"And how do we do that?" Vert asked.

"By getting eaten," Nepgear said and turned to face the monster. She blasted forward heading directly towards one of the large gaping maws, "the trick is to get eaten whole, not in bite size pieces like it tries to do!" she finished just before she disappeared into one of the enormous mouths without a moment's hesitation.

"She's definitely related to you," Vert said to Neptune as she eyed the tentacle that had just swallowed Nepgear. She could make out a small bulge inside it that quickly made its way down the length of the tentacle and into the monster. Only someone related to Neptune would come up with the idea about jumping head first down the gullet of a giant sea monster.

"It seems that way, doesn't it?" Neptune said with a little smile on her face and turned to Vert, "but do you have a better plan? Fighting out here is pointless."

"I suppose you're right," Vert said with a long sigh. She wasn't looking forward to getting eaten, but there weren't very many alternatives.

"…what about me?" Xone asked worriedly. Unlike the CPU's and this Nepgear she didn't have a propulsion system capable of pushing her through the tentacle. If both Vert and Neptune went inside, she'd be left to fend for herself out here against overwhelming odds.

It had been difficult enough already with the three of them working together, she didn't have a single hope of surviving alone.

Vert looked at Xone then back at the boss monster. "My, I suppose this is a problem." The wheels in her head spun rapidly as she quickly came to a solution, "Neptune, you go in without me. You better not screw up." Vert could see that Xone wouldn't be able to follow them, and neither of them could carry her in there.

"I won't, just don't be upset when I take all the credit for defeating the boss," Neptune said with a grin and blasted off towards the boss, leaving behind yet another small crater on the deck.

"There are more important things than taking credit for a simple boss kill," Vert retorted.

"If you say so," Neptune shouted back to Vert just before she reached one of the large, gaping maws. Shifting her sword onto her back she quickly accelerated and shot into the large opening, shooting straight down the gullet of the Leviathan.

"…sorry," Xone apologized. She hated being a burden to anyone.

Vert dismissed Xone's apology with a wave of her hand. "Don't be, I wasn't too thrilled about getting eaten in the first place." She tossed the writhing tentacle that Neptune was forcing her way down. "You gave me the perfect excuse not to follow along with that insane idea."

There was another reason, of course, but it wasn't one she was willing to talk about yet. Seeing Nepgear sparked endless possibilities in Vert's mind. Neptune could take the credit for killing the boss monster. Vert had her eyes set on a far more valuable prize, and she wasn't about to lose it to an overgrown mutant octopus.

**~o~**

With a wet pop Neptune forced her way out of the small tentacle and into the cavernous space beyond. The lining of the tentacle had been coated with saliva that worked even now to dissolve her bodysuit. She shook her back and forth as she tried as best she could to wipe the wet muck off her body without much luck. There probably wasn't going to be much left after it was finished with her clothes. For some reason, despite its corrosive effect on her clothes, it didn't seem to have any effect on her skin at all. Like it simply existed to prepare what it ate for proper dissolving later on.

It was a good thing she brought multiple sets of bodysuits with her, she would need a new one after this. The only parts of her clothes that didn't melt were her boots, gauntlets and wings that extended from her back, being made out of sterner stuff than the boss monster could dissolve.

Neptune looked around for Nepgear, the young girl that had appeared out of nowhere to save her, and found her floating high above the pit of acid stomach acid that filled the bottom third of the cavernous stomach. Her bodysuit hadn't faired any better than hers, worse perhaps, considering its advance state of decay. Nepgear didn't seem bothered by her rapidly dissolving suit, it still managed to cover what needed to be covered, although just barely.

"It's a good thing Xone stayed behind," Neptune said as she floated up to her 'little sister.' The interior of the monster would have been rather hazardous to Xone's health considering she wasn't a CPU or a CPU Candidate like Nepgear. The saliva in the tentacle would have made even shorter work of her bathing suit than it did Neptune's bodysuit and the stomach acid bubbling beneath the her would have finished her off.

Nepgear gave Neptune a curious look, "what do you mean?"

"The acid would be problematic for her," Neptune said as she pointed down at the stomach acid below.

"Couldn't she just fly?" Nepgear asked in confusion.

Now it was Neptune's turn to give Nepgear an odd look, "no, she can't."

"Oh… OH!" Nepgear exclaimed and clamped her mouth shut. A light blush of embarrassment tinted her cheeks. Nepgear hadn't realized that Xone hadn't…

Well it would explain why she was wearing a swim suit and everything.

"Yes, she's not a CPU, she can't transform," Neptune said as she stopped beside her little sister and glanced around the stomach, "so how do we kill this thing?"

"Oh! Right, you see, the boss has negative defense in here. All attacks do triple damage and are guaranteed critical hits…"

"So…"

"Umm, just attack everything," Nepgear said as she took aim at the stomach wall ahead of her. She pulled the trigger on her beam saber and a massive energy beam blasted out. It ripped into the wall of the stomach and kept on going, blasting its way out and carving a hole straight through the Leviathan.

Neptune twitched, startled by the powerful attack. Even with the triple damage and guaranteed critical strike, Nepgear had just torn the Leviathan a new asshole, literally. The CPU of Planeptune couldn't help but glance over at Nepgear's level and stats and almost had a heart attack.

She was level eighty-one.

Neptune was only forty-four. Even the others like Falcom and IF who had been doing quests for quite some time were in their fifties. How did she get so strong without anyone knowing?

"Neptune?" There was concern in Nepgear's eyes as she looked at her sister, wondering why she was just floating there staring at her.

"It's nothing!" Neptune said as she quickly regained her composure. She could sort her thoughts out later. Right now all that mattered was victory. She raised her blade and pointed it towards the stomach wall. It was time for a little pay back.

Neptune glanced at here EXE gauge and smirked. How convenient. All that time covering Vert earlier had charged her EXE bar to max. It was time to show this creature what a Neptune Break could do.

Waves of dark purple energy began to roll off Neptune's body as she prepared to unleash her most powerful individual technique. Her body crouched low, her blade shifted, her eyes grew hard.

"It's time to end this! Neptune Break!"

Neptune streaked across the stomach so fast she became nothing more than a blur of purple and black. Her blade bit deeply into the soft, flesh of the stomach wall. The power boiling off her caused the flesh around the incision to bubble and burn as the intense heat and power behind the attack disintegrated the flesh. Neptune streaked all over the room along the edge of the soft, inner flesh, dragging her sword along behind her, leaving behind deep wounds of burning flesh that couldn't be regenerated.

Normally Neptune Break consisted of countless high speed slashes against a target from all directions; attacks that literally warped and cut space and time itself, bypassing any and all defenses. Because she was inside her target however, the attack shifted into something that carved its way out instead of cutting its way in. Neptune became a blazing whirlwind of purple energy whipping around the inside of the stomach, carving her way through the soft, fleshy insides.

While the Leviathan had ignored Nepgear's initial attack, it certainly didn't ignore Neptune's. A loud, deep roar echoed throughout the cavernous stomach. The walls of flesh convulsed and writhed in agony. Acid churned and bubbled as the Leviathan thrashed from side to side.

Neptune decided to add her own fire power to Neptune's attack. She pointed her beam blade downwards and pulled the trigger. A massive beam of energy tore through the bottom of the stomach. It carved its way through the innards of the massive Leviathan until it punched its way out through the bottom and into the ocean beyond. The stomach acid began to leak through the gaping wound, adding to the destruction as it ate at the unprotected flesh outside the stomach.

"Nepgear! Punch me an opening above!" Neptune shouted, pointing up towards the roof of the stomach. The Leviathan was on its last legs. The damage they'd done to it had weakened it to the point where its core was vulnerable.

"Right!" Nepgear shouted excitedly and aimed her weapon towards the brain of the massive creature. She unleashed a third, massive, powerful beam of energy. It tore through the top of the stomach and burned its way through the soft flesh beyond. Her beam slammed into the thick cartilage that protected the brain, incinerated it, and punched the rest of the way through the brain out into the sky above.

It wasn't enough to finish the massive creature off however, considering its enormous size Nepgear only managed to destroy a small percentage of its brain matter.

Neptune intended to fix that however. She was shooting up through the hole Nepgear had carved in the Leviathan the moment the beam faded away. Still in the throes of her ultimate attack she dragged her burning weapon behind her, up the side of the opening, inflicting even more damage.

Then she was in the brain and that was when Neptune truly exploded into action. She became a whirlwind of power and steel. Her blade flashed more times than one could count, tearing through the brain as if it was nothing more than tissue paper. The shockwaves left behind from her powerful slashes bounced off the far ends of the cranium and whipped back, causing even further destruction. With each strike the pressure inside built, the openings carved out by Nepgear not large enough to relieve the pressure quickly enough.

And the point came when the pressure was simply too much. With a thunderous explosion the entire top of the Leviathan exploded, sending chunks of flesh hurtling through the air in all directions.

The Leviathan belted out one last, long agonizing death cry, and exploded into pixels.

An enormous victory screen popped up above the bow of the ship. The numbers on it were simply staggering. Each of them had gained over thirty million experience, and about half that in credits. All four girls felt a surge of power as their levels jumped through the roof. Nepgear, who had gained the least on account of being the highest level, still ended up just shy of level one hundred.

"Done and dusted!" Neptune said with a wide smile. She was about to rush down to Vert and Xone to see how they were when she noticed her precarious situation. What little was left of the fabric of her bodysuit was straining to contain her breasts.

That needed to be fixed first.

With a thought Neptune pulled out a new bodysuit from her inventory to replace the one that was on the verge of being completely dissolved due to the saliva excreted by the Leviathan. With that taken care of it was time to see how Vert and Xone had held out.

A quick glance she could make out Vert hovering protectively above Xone with her spear held out horizontally above her with both hands as if she had been holding something massive at bay. Below Neptune, Nepgear was making her way up to her with a brilliant smile on her face.

"That was amazing Neptune!" Nepgear said as she joined her sister and flew beside her towards the prow of the ship.

"Of course, did you expect anything less?" Neptune asked with a quirk of her lips.

"Hehe!"

Neptune gave her a smile and pointed at her chest, "do you have a spare? I can loan you one of mine."

Nepgear blinked and looked down at herself. It was only then that she saw the last thread keeping her modesty protected giving way. She was only seconds away from being exposed to the public. She wouldn't have even noticed if Neptune hadn't pointed it out, "Oh! No, I have spares," Nepgear said as she quickly summoned a spare bodysuit from her inventory and replaced her ruined one with it.

"Come on," Neptune said, beckoning Nepgear to follow her as she headed down towards the deck of the ship where Xone and Vert were.

"Yes!" Nepgear said as she happily followed her sister. It felt so nice to be at her side again.

As they floated down to the deck and approached the Vert and Xone they could see Vert speaking with someone over a private communication line. The large-chested CPU ended the call just as the two landed on the deck of the ship before them.

Vert eyed Neptune carefully before nodding her head, her decision made. "We should be close enough to Leggo Island for you to make it the rest of the way on your own," she said in such a way there wasn't much room for argument.

Which made Neptune worried about what it was that Vert had been talking about over the communication line. "Is something wrong Vert? You have done a lot for me. It's only fair that I return the favor."

Vert shook her head, "no, you can repay that favor my making sure you get to Leggo Island by nightfall so that Histoire doesn't throw another fit."

"You sure?"

"Yes," Vert said as she rested a hand on Xone's shoulder. The young girl looked up at Vert in confusion. She had been here and she hadn't been able to make heads or tails of what it was Vert had been talking about. "Xone and I need to head back to Leanbox immediately. The carrier will pick us up and take us there."

The yacht, while still afloat, would need to be towed to port for repairs before it was fit for travel anymore.

Neptune nodded, she understood. Sometimes things came up that you just had to take care of. The CPU of Planeptune jumped back, up into the air and beckoned her sister to follow, "come on Nepgear, let's go to Planeptune, I should introduce you to Histoire."

"Yes!" Nepgear said happily as she flew up beside her sister. It would be so nice to see Histoire again, and IF, Compa, Falcom and all the others.

"Farewell, Vert," Neptune said as she waved farewell to the CPU of Leanbox.

"Take care, and don't give Histoire such a hard time!" Vert shouted back.

Neptune raised her hand in acknowledgement and blasted off towards Leggo Island. Nepgear gave the two a brief wave of farewell and quickly shot off after her sister, her high agility allowing her to quickly catch up.

Vert waited for Neptune and Nepgear to disappear into the horizon before she picked Xone up and, tucking her to her side, blasted off the yacht, heading for the large carrier that was pulling up alongside them.

"…what's going on?" Xone asked in confusion, she had never seen Vert like this before. She seemed far tenser now than when she had fought against Mr. Rabbit.

"Something top secret and I need to move quickly before the others catch on," Vert said as she as she clutched Xone to her side more tightly. She knew how to accomplish what it was that she wanted to do; she just didn't know where to look. On the other hand, she had never tried looking either, so there were many places to check.

"…ok," Xone said and relaxed in her Goddess's grip. Whatever it was that Vert wanted to do, it was obviously very important, and that was enough for Xone to go along with whatever it was.

**x~X~x**

Leggo Island was one Planeptune's two port cities. Although it was considered a port city it was much closer to a large, sprawling resort filled with buildings and attractions in the shape of coral formations. It floated just off the coastline, connected to the mainland by an elegant white marble bridge. The only things that arrived or departed from it were people, the real goods that were shipped to Planeptune arrived at a much more secret location than the extravagantly designed Leggo Island.

It had a sister city over in Lastation called Septent Resort, which served much the same purpose for Lastation as Leggo Island did for Planeptune. Much like Planeptune's hidden, secret port was similar to Port Hole for Lastation. Only authorized individuals were supposed to know of its existence.

Leggo Island was located quite close to Planeptune, but despite its close proximity it was still almost a five day travel by foot to get to the Capital. The reason for this was the rough terrain and tough monsters that existed between Leggo Island and Planeptune. Attempts in the past had been made to make the journey safer, and easier, for travel by eliminating the monsters but it hadn't worked very well for very long. The monsters simply respawned and caused havoc once again within a day.

The terrain issue was overcome by the creation of a mag lev transit system that extended from Planeptune to Leggo Island. It also overcame the monster problem as well. The issue with it however was the exorbitant price tag attached to it. Only the richest or most influential individuals could afford it, and often it was simply cheaper to hire a band of adventurers to escort them to Leggo Island by foot.

As a result the mag lev was rarely used.

Exceptions could be made however. The mag lev could be set up and made to run even without paying the steep price tag. One such exception, for example, could be an executive command given by an irate and worried Oracle so she could get her wayward CPU home to berate and lecture at length as soon as possible.

So instead of the lengthy five day trip back to Planeptune on foot, or eighteen hour trip by flying, the two of them, Neptune and Nepgear, found themselves whisked from Leggo Island to Planeptune in a matter of minutes, using the high-speed hyper-sonic mag-lev train system.

Which was how Neptune and Nepgear found themselves arriving at Nep Tower, gently touching down on the balcony outside of Neptune's sanctuary, not two hours after parting ways with Vert and Xone.

"Hi, Histoire," Neptune said, putting a smile her face as she watched her Oracle floated out from the glass doors that separated the balcony from her room.

"It's good to have you home, Neptune," Histoire said as she tried to keep her emotion out of her voice. There was a complex mix of emotions raging through her body, from relief and joy that Neptune was home safe and sound to annoyance and anger that she had gotten herself lost in the first place.

There was so much she wanted to say but more than anything she was just glad Neptune was home.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to worry you," Neptune said apologetically as she walked over to Histoire. Before the tiny Oracle could respond Neptune pulled her into a tight hug, almost burying the Oracle of Planeptune between her breasts.

"Gack! Stop!" Histoire protested half-heartedly as she struggled weakly to break free from Neptune's large breasts. "I can't lecture you when you hug me like this!"

"Is that supposed to be incentive to let you go?" Neptune asked with a light laugh and hugged Histoire even tighter.

"Gack!"

Nepgear laughed at the light-hearted scene playing out before her. She had missed things like this.

The unknown laugh caused Histoire to pause in her weak attempts to break free from Neptune's embrace. She looked over at Nepgear with a curious look in her eyes, as if trying to decipher what it was she was looking at.

Following Histoire's gaze across the balcony to Nepgear, Neptune's smile widened. She turned to Nepgear, pulling Histoire out from between her breasts, and set her tiny Oracle back down on her floating book.

"Histoire, this is Nepgear, the CPU Candidate of Planeptune," Neptune said as she introduced her little sister to her Oracle, "she helped me defeat a boss monster on the way to Planeptune."

A shimmering pink light engulfed Nepgear and when it disappeared she was back in her normal human form wearing her white and purple school girl outfit, "Hello, Histoire," Nepgear said as she bowed low to the small Oracle. "I'm so glad to see you—" She had to bite her tongue to prevent herself from saying 'again.'

Histoire blinked in surprise as she stared at Nepgear for a long moment. She glanced over her shoulder at Neptune, who appeared almost as surprised and interested in Nepgear's normal form as her, and then back at Nepgear. While the two of them looked different while transformed, Nepgear could easily have passed as an older version of Neptune's normal form. The resemblance was almost uncanny.

It went a long ways to convincing the Oracle that Nepgear was indeed the CPU Candidate of Planeptune. It wasn't like the possibility wasn't there for someone to become a CPU Candidate. Histoire had actually been thinking about suggesting the idea to Neptune to find herself a little sister, mostly to help with the development of shares since relying on just Neptune was iffy at best. She was, however, surprised that someone like Nepgear could have appeared without her knowing.

This Nepgear also had a rather uncanny resemblance to a young woman that disappeared a few weeks ago, Gear. Gear had been one of several individuals she had been looking into as a potential candidate.

"Welcome to Planeptune, Nepgear," Histoire said as she put a smile on her face. Nepgear so far appeared to be a bit more mature than her rambunctious older sister. "You really do look like Neptune, an older and more mature version of her."

There was a flash of purple light as Neptune reverted back to her human form. The CPU of Planeptune took a step forward, thrust her chest out, placed her hands on her hips, and beamed a brilliant smile at Nepgear. "I'm much cuter though."

"Thank you, I'll do my best for Planeptune!" Nepgear said happily, glad that Histoire welcomed her so easily. She had been slightly nervous about how she would be received. When she had first become a CPU Candidate, Neptune had found her on Histoire's behalf, not the other way around.

There was an almost orgasmic look of pure happiness on Histoire's face. She could hear, and feel, the sincerity in Nepgear's voice. It felt almost too good to be true for the CPU Candidate of Planeptune to be such a mature and responsible individual.

Not at all like the current CPU that wouldn't do anything unless threatened.

Thinking of her CPU caused a ton of memories to come crashing back. Histoire rounded on Neptune and pointed a finger at her. "Neptune!" Histoire shouted, there was a stormy look on her face. Now that Neptune was no longer her older, more mature, transformed self, it was easy to lecture her.

"Whoa! Histoire you just like totally ruined the moment here."

"I don't care! What in the Goddess's name possessed you to tie yourself to the mast of a ship in the middle of a lightning storm?!" Histoire demanded angrily as she leaned into Neptune's face.

"Yikes!" Neptune said as she leaned back and held her hands up in surrender.

"I'll go make some tea," Nepgear said with a smile and quickly left the room to give Histoire the opportunity to lecture her sister in peace.

Neptune reached out for Nepgear, "nooo don't abandon me so quickly!"

Nepgear only smiled and shook her head, she knew better than to get between Histoire and her lectures. "I'll be back soon," Nepgear said to them and quickly made her way across the room. She heard Histoire start winding up behind her. Histoire had lectured Neptune so many times she had turned it into an art form.

The scene behind her faded away as Nepgear made her way inside and towards the kitchen, pushed away by bouts of nostalgia that began to descend upon her. Everything felt so familiar to her. Behind her was the main room where Neptune's work desk was located, and where she had often begged Nepgear to do her job for her because she was too busy playing video games. And over there was the bathroom where the two of them often took baths together.

Nepgear paused momentarily on her way to the kitchen and peeked into one of the open rooms in the hallway. It was the large game room that housed the latest console systems for Planeptune. In front of the large seventy-five inch plasma screen TV was the Nep Console; the most advanced console in Gamindustri with the most advanced graphics and powerful processing units.

Of course it came at the cost of extra features that the other nations were well known for.

Memories flashed across Nepgear's sight and phantoms of memories long passed appeared in the room. She could see Neptune and the other three CPUs, arguing and fighting with each other as they played on the console. To the side were her and the other CPU Candidates, calmly sharing their handheld game systems with each other, laughing and enjoying each other's company. Histoire hovered above the CPUs berating them for relaxing when they should be working, and on the other side of the room were Compa and IF, chatting happily together, sitting side by side on the sofa.

Nepgear blinked in surprise as a single tear rolled down her cheek. She slowly raised a hand and caught the tear halfway down her cheek. She stared at her damp fingers in amazement. The last time she had shed a tear had been when she had watched Leggo Island burn to the ground, as she and the other CPU Candidates were forced to flee against the enormous horde of viral monsters.

Ram had stayed behind to buy them enough time to escape and to give the few surviving citizens of Planeptune enough time to evacuate. They never saw her again, not even her remains could be found when they had retaken what was left of the city a year later. Only her staff, half buried in a pile of frozen rubble and ash, gave any indication that she had ever been there. Rom had taken the staff for herself, the last and only memento she had of her sister.

Nepgear had vowed never to cry again after that day, she had vowed she would never let that happen again, and she intended to keep that vow this time.

"I… should hurry to the kitchen," Nepgear said quietly to herself as she turned from the phantom images and hurried on down the hallway.

She stopped again as she reached the door to Neptune's bedroom. She couldn't help herself as another memory forced itself to the forefront of her thoughts. Her fingers traced an outline on the door and another phantom image appeared.

Histoire, larger than she was today, nailed to the blood soaked door, a look of utter disbelief on her face, as if she couldn't comprehend what was happening. It had been a very odd look for someone that had access to all the information of Gamindustri.

And she had been very much dead.

More tears joined the ones already streaming down her face, tears of sadness this time.

That was the day they all realized this war against the viral infection would cost them a great deal before it was over. They had all been forced to do some growing up after that point.

Nepgear never saw her sister in her human form after that day. Not until today at least.

Turning away from the door she continued on down the hallway and entered the kitchen.

More memories bombarded her as she looked around the room. She could see phantoms of herself making tea, baking pie, cooking meals, and a host of other things right alongside her sister's attempts to sneak in taste tests behind her back, smuggle puddings out of the fridge as a late night snack, and otherwise being a happy nuisance that Nepgear sorely missed.

There hadn't been time sit back and cook a nice meal, or brew a good spot of tea after the war began. They had all been too busy fighting to save Planeptune to rest for more than a few hours, and they never had enough time to come home.

It had been years since the last time Nepgear had stepped foot in this kitchen.

More tears began to stream down her face.

It felt so nice to be back here that it hurt. Nepgear moved slowly through the kitchen, trusting her body and muscles to go through the actions automatically. She felt more than saw her hands fill a kettle full of water and set it to boil. It was hard to see through the tears that clouded her vision. Everything was exactly where she remembered: the tea bags, the sugar, the cups, all of it, it was all in the same place.

The floodgates opened, she couldn't stop it, no matter how hard she tried. Tears streamed freely from her eyes and down her cheeks. She collapsed to her knees, her hands feebly griping the edge of the counter as powerful sobs wracked her body. Her head bowed forward, resting against the cupboard doors beneath the sink and her hair draped her face, concealing it from view.

It had been a long time, such a very long time. To finally have this back, to finally have her sister back, to be able to walk into the kitchen and brew tea like she always used to back when things had been happy and carefree.

It was all too much for her to take.

She never noticed when the tea kettle started whistling.

**~o~**

"…do I make myself clear Neptune?"

"Yes, Histoire…"

Neptune and Histoire had moved inside, Nepgear could hear as much as she approached the main room with Neptune's desk. But from the sounds of it the lecture was winding down.

Nepgear paused in the hallway just before the entrance and took a deep breath. It had taken her nearly an hour to brew the tea, not because it had been particularly difficult, but because it had taken her that long to recover from her break down.

"Now, say it again!"

"I solemnly swear never to tie myself to a ships mast in the middle of a lightning storm so that I can chase after custard pudding tasting stars and sparkles."

A light smile broke out on Nepgear's face. Hearing her sister's voice washed away the sadness from before, leaving only the joy of being reunited with the person she cared about most. She glanced down at the tray of tea and cups in her hands. If she waited much longer it would risk it growing cold.

Taking one last deep breath and pushing away the last of the memories of the past Nepgear turned the corner and entered the main room with a smile on her face.

"Neptune, Histoire, I made some tea," Nepgear said as she slowly made her way across the room to the two of them. Neptune was sitting at her desk looking at some information on the screen while Histoire hovered over her shoulder waggling a finger down at the CPU.

"Oh! Thank you," Histoire said in surprise. She didn't want to admit it but she had completely forgotten about Nepgear during her lecturing of Neptune.

"Nepgear! You're the greatest! Did you bring any cookies?" Neptune asked eagerly. She loved pudding, but that was a snack that went with itself, for tea you needed cookies!

"Yes, right here," Nepgear said as she placed the tray of tea down on the side of the desk. There was a small plate of cookies on the end of the tray, Neptune's favorites if Nepgear recalled correctly. "Nep Tea with seven teaspoons of sugar and one cream for sis," Nepgear said as she set the tea and cookies in front of her sister, "and QuizOm tea for Histoire, black," she finished as she handed Histoire a tiny cup of tea that was still large enough that it required Histoire to use both hands to hold it.

"Can we keep her?" Neptune asked her Oracle eagerly as she stuffed a cookie in her mouth. Noire was going to be SO jealous of her when she trotted Nepgear out to show her.

"Of course, I need someone reliable around here and I can't keep relying on IF to save us," Histoire said without hesitation and sipped her tea. She gave a start and stared at it in surprise. It was good, surprisingly so. She gave Nepgear a quick, startled glance. QuizOm tea was a mixture of two different types of tea, and she had gotten the mixture perfect, what's more it was at the exact temperature Histoire liked. The hairs on the back of Histoire's neck rose; it was uncanny just how good this new girl was at making tea, as if she had done it a thousand times before.

The girl was oblivious to her look being so enraptured by Neptune. Histoire could easily tell that she was totally devoted and loved Neptune from the bottom of her heart. Perhaps she was just needlessly worrying over a minor detail that didn't matter.

She hoped so.

Most of her worries melted away as Nepgear turned and gave her a smile. There wasn't an ounce of deceit hidden within the depths of those eyes; only love, caring, understanding, acceptance, and more than a little happiness and relief. Those were not the eyes of someone that wanted to do harm.

"Is the tea alright, Histoire?"

"Yes, it's quite good, thank you," Histoire replied as she took another sip. It was more than good, it was great. It was better than when she herself brewed it, although being so small it was always difficult to put in the exact amounts.

"Oh! Histoire! We should hook her up to the Goddess Crystal!" Neptune said as she waved her hands towards a room in the center of her sanctuary.

The Goddess Crystal was a special Sharicite Crystal that linked a Goddess to their shares. It acted as a central hub or processing unit for all the shares a Goddess gathered. One could say it was the very core of a Goddess' power. It sensed and collected all the faith in the world, each 'share,' and stored it inside. It then processed those shares and channeled them to the Goddess, empowering them well beyond mortal limits. By connecting Nepgear to the crystal any faith generated towards Nepgear would also translate into shares for Planeptune as a whole, which could then be used to empower both Neptune and Nepgear.

Each nation had one, without it a Goddess couldn't receive any empowerment or bonus from their faithful followers.

"Oh my, that's a very good idea, Neptune," Histoire said, not bothering to hide the surprise in her voice. She finished her tea and set the small cup back down on the tray. "I'm surprised you actually thought of it." It wasn't every day that Neptune actually came up with a good idea. It happened, but Histoire wouldn't even reach twenty before she ran out of the number of times over the last two and a half centuries where Neptune came up with a good idea.

"I have my moments!" Neptune said proudly as she rubbed a finger under her nose. Nepgear smiled at her sister.

"Come along Nepgear, let's get you connected," Histoire said with a smile and floated out of the room. Neptune and Nepgear were quick to follow.

The room with the Goddess Crystal was in the very center of Neptune's sanctuary. There was only one entrance and only authorized individuals were allowed to access the door. Currently there were only four such individuals: Histoire, IF, Compa and of course Neptune. The walls of the room were pitch black, giving the illusion of spanning out infinitely, even when light was shone upon them. In the very center of the room was the sole source of light in the room: the Goddess Crystal. There were several ways of measuring what percentage of worldwide shares a Goddess had. One could always analyze the crystal and have a report printed to get an exact breakdown. However there was an easier way to tell, by how much light it emitted. The brighter it was, the more shares the nation possessed.

Right now the crystal was shining brightly, giving off enough light to easily navigate across the room, but not so much that it was difficult to look at. Just by eyeballing it you could tell that Planeptune had around thirty percent shares, give or take a few percentiles. It was darker now than it had been before Neptune had left for R-18 Island, but only slightly. The loss in shares due to Neptune's trip had been negligible at best.

Histoire stopped as she reached the Goddess Crystal and turned to Nepgear, "Nepgear, if you could place your hands around the crystal, please," Histoire instructed the young girl.

"Yes!" Nepgear said as she placed her hands around the crystal. She wasn't quite sure how this was going to work all things considered but she had faith everything would work out for the best.

Histoire's eyes glazed over as her focus turned inwards towards the systems in place around the Goddess Crystal, "Now channel your power into the crystal and I will connect you to Planeptune," she asked in a detached voice.

Nepgear nodded and began to channel her energy into the crystal. This was just like she remembered from way back when. She had struggled far more then, of course, having never done it before. But this was her second time, and she had far better control over her energy now than she did then.

A phantom image of her when she was younger appeared around her, looking superimposed upon her own body. She had looked more nervous and less sure back then, but far happier and overjoyed at the prospect of being chosen too, than she did now.

That wasn't to say she wasn't overjoyed, but the magic just wasn't there the second time around.

"Very good," Histoire said as she threw all the proper switches and fired up the correct circuits, "this will just take a moment more and… there, done."

"Nepuu!" Neptune shouted and jumped back in surprise as the Goddess Crystal exploded with light. The crystal began to emit a deep thrumming sound, like the gentle rumblings of a great beast sleeping beneath the earth.

Histoire too was shocked by the explosion of light and couldn't help but stare at it in surprise.

Only Nepgear appeared unfazed by the sudden eruption of light. She had expected as much would happen, although not to quite the degree that it did. She had her own subset of shares, faith that people held towards her. When she had been connected with the Goddess Crystal they had all come shooting into it.

The Goddess Crystal of Planeptune had probably never been this full before.

"Way to go Nepgear! Already doing my work for me! I can so totally relax for the next twenty years with this many shares!" Neptune said exuberantly as she stared at the brilliantly glowing Goddess Crystal. She had never seen it like this before, it was amazing.

Histoire concentrated on the Goddess Crystal and analyzed the numbers coming through it. Her eyes widened even more. "Our shares just went up twenty one percent! We're at fifty-one percent! We have over half the shares of the world," she said with nothing but wonderment in her voice and on her face.

Adding Nepgear to the Goddess Crystal was definitely the right choice, and the wrong one. Already Histoire could see the strain this sudden surge of shares would have on their relations with the other nations.

It could even spark all-out war if it drove any one nation's shares too low.

Each nation had a working relationship with the others; some nations were obviously closer than others. Lastation for instance almost always supported Planeptune, their shares were rarely affect by Planeptunes. However Lowee and Leanbox had come to blows with them countless times in the past and often allied against them and Lastation.

But there was no way Lastation wouldn't be affected by this sudden surge.

However, at the same time, with two CPUs, Neptune and Nepgear, working together with this much share power at their disposal. They didn't have much to fear from the Goddesses of the other nations.

Especially with Nepgear's shockingly high level. The other Goddesses wouldn't be able to even touch her. They'd definitely take a more cautious approach.

Her body rocked to the side as a finger poked her in the face.

"Earth to Histoire! You in there?" Neptune asked as she poked Histoire over and over again.

"Gah! Stop that!" Histoire protested indignantly, flailing her arms wildly as she tried to regain her balance.

"You went all spacey like you got lost in a brown paper bag again or something."

Histoire shivered as that horrible day came back to her. Neptune had decided to stuff her in a brown paper bag with her lunch before heading out to do quests on one of the few days Histoire had managed to coerce her into getting off her lazy ass and do something. Between the tight space, the horrible smell of rotting fruit, and the icky gunk that had gotten all over her from being jostled around for six hours, she had been in a less than coherent state when Neptune had opened the bag to have lunch.

"I did NOT go catatonic!" Histoire protested indignantly. "I was thinking, that's all."

"Well don't think too hard!" Neptune said as she lightly patted her Oracle on the head, "you wouldn't want to burn out a processor or something. I thought I smelled a little smoke there."

"I was NOT overheating!" That was a direct affront to her capacity as an Oracle. She was more than capable of doing a little thinking. She wasn't like Neptune who burnt out more than a few brain cells every time she tried to think beyond her stomach.

And as if that thought awakened the beast, a loud rumble shook the walls of the Basilicom. Neptune placed a hand on her stomach and grinned at Histoire and Nepgear, "well my stomach says its supper time! Let's eat, I'm hungry!"

"I'll go prepare something right away," Nepgear said with a smile and hurried out of the Share Room.

"There's something strange about her," Histoire murmured after Nepgear had left and was out of earshot.

"Ah, you worry too much Histoire! I've always wanted a little sister!" Neptune said as she dismissed Histoire's worries like they were nothing. "Wait up for me Nepgear! I wanna help as well."

Histoire sighed quietly as she watched Neptune rush out of the room to follow Nepgear to the kitchen. The Oracle didn't think that Nepgear's sudden arrival was a bad thing, just strange. There were a great many questions surrounding her sudden appearance that had no explanation that she could think of.

For instance, how did she get a hold of a Sharicite crystal capable of transforming her into a CPU Candidate?

Because the one she had been saving for the creation of just such a Candidate had been stolen and sold to an evil organization a month ago. She didn't want to consider the possibility that Nepgear was here on their behalf, coerced or forced to work as an undercover agent. Who knew what dastardly, perverted things were done to her before she arrived here. One didn't just become level ninety nine magically without help.

**~o~**

"Achoo!" the mysterious man sneezed, knocking down the tree he was facing with the force of his sneeze. He had managed to lift his laptop over his head just in time to prevent destroying it.

That was the problem with being so powerful. Even the most innocuous of things tended to have devastating effects on your surroundings.

He glanced back at his laptop and smiled happily. Planeptune`s shares had risen sharply, by twenty percent no less. It was good when things came together like he had planned. The battle against the Leviathan hadn't been enough to generate the twenty percent increase alone, so he had been forced to leak a few of the images from the first `punishment` game he had put Nepgear through.

The images were innocent enough, but it had generated enough interest in the new CPU Candidate of Planeptune to make up the last chunk of the twenty percent. Nepgear was going to be angry at him for a while though once she saw those images.

He closed his laptop and stood up with a slight groan as his stiff muscles protested. Tucking the computer away in his inventory he stretched out his sore, stiff muscles. He was done here in Planeptune, for now. His gaze turned north, it was time to move on.

But first he had to meet his buyer. Someone had actually wanted to purchase the outfits he had used to 'motivate' Nepgear.

**~o~**

In the far north was the land of Lowee. It was a beautiful winter wonderland filled with marvels to thrill and delight kids and adults alike. The city of Lowee, the capital of this great nation, was filled with countless attractions. Tourism and entertainment were the greatest draws and money making business of Lowee. In the very center of Lowee was the Basilicom; a great fortress that towered above the city. But unlike most fortresses this one was designed with delicate towers and curved buttresses. It was built to please the eye, not survive a long siege. The enormous wall topped with tall towers, fortifications and ballistae that surrounded the fortress however, was very much designed to protect the fortress from attack.

In all the years since the founding of Lowee, those great walls had never once been breached by enemy forces.

They had, however, been breached on several occasions due to an errant hammer strike by an irate Goddess.

Said Goddess was none other than Blanc, the CPU of Lowee. She normally rested deep within the bowels of the fortress. She didn't get out very much, often occupied with urgent matters such as governing her people, developing some new piece of technology, or writing bad manga or cliché ridden short stories.

Located within the Basilicom was the Goddess' Sanctuary. Inside this sanctuary was a large vaulted room, almost a hundred meters long and twenty wide, with enormous windows lining the walls. Checkered patterned, black and white, diamond shaped, marble tiles covered the floor and fantastical paintings of epic adventures covered the ceiling.

Despite the enormity of the room, it was almost completely empty. There was a single canopy bed large enough to make king size beds green with envy. The only other furnishing was a computer desk in the center of the room with a nice soft, leather chair in front of it. The chair was positioned so that the users back was to the door to the room, facing the bed. On the desk were three wide-screen monitors, forming a semi-circle around the chair, along with two mice and two keyboards. Beside the desk on the floor to either side of the desk, were two different computers. One was set up for work, the other one for pleasure.

Sitting in that chair was what appeared to be a young girl with short brown hair and blue eyes. A small, soft white fur hat with blue frills topped her head. She looked pure, innocent, demure and cute.

Although anyone that knew her would know that was anything but beneath the surface.

The young girl was looking intently at the screen in front of her as she waved an odd contraption in front of her. It was obvious from the intent look on her face she was trying to get something to occur on the screen but nothing happened. The screen just stared back blankly, unchanging.

The door behind her opened and just that like, with a sound akin to shattering glass, the patience of the 'young girl' sitting in front of the monitor broke.

"Frickin damn this piece of shit!"

The fortress shook as a piece of plastic shaped like a dildo slammed into the floor with enough force to shatter the device into a million different pieces. It would have gone straight through the floor in any other building but the floor in the sanctuary had been designed to survive extinction class meteor impacts.

"Now, now, Blanc, no need to get upset," a kind, motherly voice said from entrance to the room.

The young girl, now identified as Blanc, the oldest CPU of Gamindustri currently known to be alive, turned to face the newcomer, swivelling around on the chair she was sitting on. "Hello Mina," Blanc greeted her Oracle in a soft, calm voice, looking for all the world as if the sudden angry outburst had never happened.

Mina was a tall woman with long, bright cyan hair that flowed down to her knees on either side of her in two enormous pig-tails held together by a large golden metal band. Her red eyes were rimmed by a pair of red glasses and there was almost always a tolerant, happy smile on her face. Mina looked like a graduate student with a red square hat, a short white dress that went down to her thighs, and a red overcoat with gold trim and buttons that covered much of her body. The inside of the overcoat was pale white and cyan colored circuitry was embedded into the inside base of the overcoat. On her legs was a pair of open red shoes and thigh high white see-through stockings with frilly trim.

"Is the next generation motion controller not working?" Mina asked as she slowly made her way across the room towards her CPU. Her eyes took in the shattered remains of the prototype Blanc had spent the last week staying up late to finish and perfect.

Obviously it hadn't been perfect enough to survive the first test phase.

"I am making progress," Blanc said in a soft voice. It was difficult to hear Blanc unless she was angry.

"That's good to hear," Mina said as she brought out a pan and broom and began to sweep up the pieces of Blanc's latest failed motion controller.

"It connected to the software, it just didn't do anything."

"Oh my, that is progress," Mina said approvingly as she finished brushing the last of the pieces into her dust pan and activated the incineration device. A wave of heat blasted across the room as the dust pan incinerated the broken pieces, reducing them to pixels.

"I will get it next time," Blanc said and swivelled around back to her computer to figure out where she had gone wrong in connecting the hardware with the software.

"So we'll be able to recover some of our shares soon, since they just dropped ten percent."

"…" An angry tick appeared on the side of Blanc's head as she tried to hold her anger in.

"It seems Leanbox and Lastation suffered similar drops in shares, although not as badly as us," Mina said as she walked over to Blanc and stood beside her with her hands folded across her front. "It seems Planeptune has pulled one over all of us. They have over half the world's shares."

Just like that Blanc's calm collected personality shattered a second time, "God damn that fucking Neptune! This means war!"

That wouldn't do at all. Planeptune in their current state would squash Lowee like a bug, even allied with Leanbox. That wasn't what Mina wanted right now. Better, more covert, operations was what this situation called for.

"I advise something else," Mina suggested and presented a tablet to her CPU.

"What's this?" Blanc asked softly, her anger gone as quick as it came, as she accepted the tablet and placed it on the desk in front of her.

On the screen of the tablet was an image, just a singular image, but it explained everything. There were two people on it. They were standing on the front of an enormous boat facing down a powerful water monster. Blanc instantly recognized Neptune. She could never forget that arrogant face that thought she was stronger, faster, and better than everyone. However it wasn't Neptune that got Blanc's attention, it was the unknown girl standing with her. The one with long pink hair, bright blue eyes dressed exactly like Neptune, except with a different color scheme. She also wielded a long beam saber instead of just a sword like Neptune.

Blanc could tell instantly she was allied with Neptune just from the way she looked.

"Planeptune has a second CPU."

"CPU Candidate, to be precise," Mina said as she swiped her finger across the tablet's screen, bringing up a news article. It was an article announcing the existence of Neptune to the world and that she would work alongside Neptune in further bettering Planeptune.

It had been taken very well according to all their sources. Especially after those cute, and sometimes sexy, images of her suddenly appeared on the internet. The CPUs were all old news, everyone knew about them, but this new sexy hotness was making waves like no tomorrow.

"Might I suggest a punitive measure against this new CPU Candidate before she gains too much traction?"

Blanc swivelled in her chair and stepped off onto the cold marble floor, heading for the door.

"Where are you going Blanc?" Mina asked worriedly. She had expected Blanc to be far more upset about this.

The CPU of Lowee stopped and glanced back at Mina. "If Neptune thinks she can one up me with a new CPU, I'm going to double it up and take back my shares." She already had the best Sharicite Crystal in Gamindustri in her vault. It was a double crystal capable of transforming twins or close siblings into a pair of CPUs.

She hadn't used it before because there hadn't been any reason to, now there was.

"Do you even know where to look?"

"I'll figure something out," Blanc said and left the room.

Mina let out a long sigh, shaking her head slowly from side to side as she adjusted her glasses on her nose. She pulled out a cell phone and hit a number of quick dial. She held the phone up to her ear and waited for the other end to pick up.

"…?" the voice was too muffled for anyone but Mina to make out what they said.

"The target has decided to move, you need to speed things up on your end."

"…!"

"I know, I will delay her by feeding her misinformation. But you need to find the CPU Candidates and deal with them. I have already arranged for Lowee's Sharicite crystal to be transported to our boss."

"…"

"You think I care about your petty problems? Just do as you're told or you'll make _him_ upset. You wouldn't want that now would you? Just find the girls, and do whatever it is you normally do with little girls, lick them or whatever. Just break their minds so thoroughly that they'll never want to leave their rooms," Mina finished and canceled the call before the person on the other end could say anything else. She hated dealing with that thing. She refused to call it a man. It was an abomination in her eyes, but it got results, sometimes.

Mina glanced back at the computer screen, Blanc had left her systems open. She obviously trusted Mina, and the blue-haired Oracle had done nothing to deserve the contrary, yet. Mina didn't care about the personal one but…

She approached the work computer and went over the information on there. Blanc really was close to finishing her new motion controller. A small smile crossed Mina's face as her fingers danced across the keyboard.

There, now the information was corrupted. Blanc would be forced to start over from scratch. Mina didn't want Lowee destroyed, but she didn't want it strong either. A strong Blanc was harder to control.

**~o~**

"Lady Vert! Something terrible has happened!" Chika cried out in a panic as Vert stormed through the entrance of Leanbox's Basilicom. Xone followed just on her heels, still curious as to what it was that Vert thought was so important.

"I know, Planeptune's shares have surged to unprecedented levels and are threatening our own," Vert said as she made her way to the elevator that would take her to her room. The moment Nepgear had declared herself as Neptune's little sister, and Vert had seen just how reliable and competent she was compared to her older sister, Vert knew this was going to happen.

"As expected of Lady Vert! You know everything," Chika said with a proud smile on her face.

The three of them piled into the elevator. It was a special high-speed elevator designed specifically for Vert and her closest confidants, which at the moment only included Chika and Xone. It quickly shot through the Basilicom and a few moments later opened up on the Sanctuary on the top floor.

Vert was out the door almost before it had finished opening. She quickly made her way to her office, a small room that saw little use. Vert usually preferred the hidden computer room off her meeting room to her office.

"We need to hurry, the other nations will have noticed this by now," Vert said as she marched across the room and sat in her chair. She turned on her computer and waited for it to boot up.

"What are we going to do? The 3D display isn't ready yet, it still needs another year of development!" Chika said worriedly. Her eyes flashed dangerously and an angry snarl sullied her face, "I should have strangled her when we had her pinned to the wall!"

"She would have just transformed and cut you down," Vert said without looking at her Oracle. Her attention was focused almost entirely on the computer screen in front of her.

"W-What?!"

Vert didn't say anymore. She had lived for almost two-hundred and fifty years, she may be the youngest of the CPUs, being seven years younger than Noire, but she, like the others save Neptune, had gone through many Oracles over the years.

For Vert, her Oracles all seemed to be as fanatically devoted to her as Chika was, which was great under most circumstances. However it had gotten a few of them killed when they tried to exact righteous revenge against Neptune for some slight or another. One of them had even died when they had commented about Blanc's chest to the older CPU's face. It had taken awhile to clean the stain off the walls once Blanc had calmed down. Only another CPU was capable of insulting Blanc like that, they were the only people strong enough to survive the resultant explosion of anger.

Neptune was all fun in games in her normal state, but if you truly threatened her or her nation, she got serious. The CPU of Planeptune proved that during the first hundred or so years after Vert had risen to power had been a tumultuous time in Gamindustri's past. Vert had to admit that was almost entirely her fault. With just three CPUs there were enough shares to go around. With four CPUs vying for a limited number of shares, that had no longer been the case. War had become a common theme.

Gamindustri's graveyard, a desolate, barren wasteland of broken machines, dead bodies, and trash, was the result of those wars. Being centrally located between Lowee, Lastation and Planeptune, and in close proximity to Leanbox as well, it was the perfect location for armies to meet and clash over differences.

Vert didn't want to consider how many hundreds of thousands of corpses lay buried beneath those enormous mounds of trash and wreckage.

But she didn't regret it one bit however. Competition was good. It had driven the technological development of all four nations quite a bit over the years. It had just come at a steep cost.

It was only in the past fifty to a hundred years or so that relative, tentative, peace had come to Gamindustri. But that wasn't so much because they had made peace or anything. They were all simply sick and tired of fighting and went out of their way not to antagonize the other nations.

Basically an unofficial mutually agreed upon cease fire. They were all technically still at war with each other.

Had this been a deliberate attempt by Neptune to grab shares over her competitors Vert herself would have considered something a bit more drastic. However, she could tell by Neptune's expression at the time that she had been just as surprised as Vert at this Nepgear's sudden appearance. It had not been planned.

"…plan?" Xone asked Vert curiously as she looked at the computer screen. She couldn't make heads or tails of what it was she was doing.

"Neptune got herself a little sister, that's where her explosion of shares came from. The best way to counter-act that is to get a little sister of my own," Vert explained. There was always the possibility of war, but she had seen how strong Nepgear was. That was another reason why she didn't want to resort to more drastic actions. Even allied with Blanc, Nepgear alone could probably defeat the both of them.

Noire was so smitten with Neptune that there wasn't any chance of getting her help, not unless Neptune pushed her too far, and from the looks of Lastation's shares, that wasn't the case. Lastation had lost the least out of them, only dropping three percent. Lowee had suffered the worst.

"I volunteer!" Chika said happily as boldly thrust her chest out.

Vert frowned, Chika wouldn't do. She was incredibly loyal and a good administrator, but she had no combat potential. Her eyes flickered over to Xone. What Vert needed was someone who was cute, intelligent and powerful. Large breasts were a nice to have but…

"Could you please get the special formula I prescribed earlier?" Vert asked Chika.

"Yes Lady Vert!" Chika said happily and quickly left the room.

She'd do what she could about Xone's breast size in the meantime. She knew from the way Blanc and Neptune turned out that once transformed, she would be stuck with whatever she had at the time. It's unfortunate that she would never be graced with the glorious mounds that Vert herself possessed, but not everyone was as lucky as she was.

She'd deal with the fallout of that revelation later.

**~o~**

"ARGH!" A scream of rage shattered the uncomfortable silence in the room. "I've had it!" IF shouted and flipped the table she was sitting at. Papers and documents scattered all over the place and the desk hurtled across the room, slamming into the far wall.

"Iffy…" Compa said comfortingly as she looked up at her close friend from her spot on the floor nearby. She was surrounded by stacks of papers so tall it almost completely concealed her from view.

"I can't take it anymore!" IF growled as she huffed angrily. She glared at the papers fluttering around her, the only source of her annoyance that she had any control over. A katar flashed through the air and stabbed one of the sheets, splitting it in two with a satisfying rip. "There's nothing here! Nothing! It doesn't matter how many reports we go over we can't find ANYTHING about Neptune! How is that even remotely possible? That girl is a walking disaster waiting to happen!"

"Umm, Noire I—" Uni tried to pipe in.

"—Maybe she's dead," Falcom said soberly, talking over Uni without realizing it. She too hadn't much luck in finding Neptune after sifting through her own set of papers. She didn't want to believe that herself, but how long were they going to look for her? If they hadn't found her by now, this method of searching wouldn't turn up anything.

Uni opened her mouth to try again. "She's—"

"—Not dead," IF said stubbornly as she crossed her arms beneath her chest. IF refused to admit that someone like Neptune as gone. Although it was certainly curious as to why Histoire wasn't able to locate her anymore.

"Just pointing it out, even Histoire can't find her," Falcom said and gave IF a pointed look. If Histoire couldn't find her, the chances of them finding her were slim to nil.

"But—" Uni tried again.

"—We'll find her," Noire said as she looked at the papers she held in her hand, "she's alive somewhere, her shares still exist which means she's somewhere." When a Goddess dies, so does the faith people had in them. The Goddess Crystal, without anything to connect to, would simply bleed the shares out and they would be up for grabs by anyone.

The only way one would be able to prevent that was to quickly redirect the lost shares to someone else, but that would require a second CPU or CPU Candidate, but no nation had that yet.

A sudden thought occurred to Noire and she looked over at Uni. Uni had been trying to say something the entire time but they had kept talking over her without noticing. The little girl was sitting at her own desk with a rather crestfallen look on her face.

"What's the matter Uni?" Noire asked, making sure to keep her concern for the young girl out of her voice. She had to be strict after all, set a good example for the younger generation.

"Well, I just wanted to say I found Neptune…" Uni said in a quiet voice.

"WHAT?!" Everyone shouted at the same time.

"Why didn't you say anything earlier?" Noire demanded as she rushed over to Uni's desk.

Uni shrunk in upon herself. "Well I—" she started.

"Where is she? Is she alright?" IF asked as she rushed over as well. Falcom and Compa were quick to join her.

"You see—"

"This is a report from the west," Noire said as she picked up a report on Uni's desk and poured over it. Included with it were a couple images of what looked like Neptune and Vert in their HDD states fighting a huge boss monster. Nearby were two people Noire had never seen before, but one of them floated like Neptune and Vert so she was obviously a CPU as well. "It says Neptune and Vert were ambushed by a Leviathan MK-1 while on their way to Planeptune."

"AH! That's the same monster that threw my ship back in chapter one!" Falcom said as she pointed at the enormous sea monster.

"The one that turned you into a convenient plot device that saved us from an Ancient Dragon?" IF asked.

"Yes, that one."

"Not sure if I should send it flowers and a thank you card, or bury it ten feet under," IF muttered under her breath. This was twice now that monster had indirectly saved IF some grief. However there was a major S-Rank quest to get rid of it that she wanted to take on.

"There is also—" Uni tried to speak again.

"—I knew Nep-Nep wouldn't die. She's too stupid to die," Compa said with a bright smile on her face. She had always known that Neptune would be alright, it was just hard to be positive with so much negative energy floating around the room.

"That's not a very nice thing to say Compa," IF pointed out as she gave her friend a wry grin, "even if it is true."

"What do you mean Iffy? I mean that in a nice way," Compa said in confusion.

Noire just shook her head. That was how Compa was, clueless to a fault, often giving back-handed compliments like they weren't meant to be backhanded. The CPU of Lastation picked up the report and read over it in full, "Apparently some new CPU came to their aid and helped them defeat the Leviathan. Vert also appears to have a new assistant by the name of Xone. This is a major development!"

"So Neptune is back home now?" IF asked hopefully.

"Well, right here—" Uni tried to point out as she reached for the second report but Noire grabbed it before she could.

"Yes, it seems she did make it back," Noire said as she read over the new report, "and it seems that Planeptune has a CPU Candidate now by the name of Nepgear." There weren't any images to go with this report unlike the first, but the first had been enough. Noire could pretty easily deduce who this new _CPU Candidate_ was. She definitely wanted to get a look at this new CPU and tear a strip off Neptune's hide for worrying her like that.

It seemed that a trip to Planeptune was in order.

"Nep-Nep has a little sister now? Oh that's amazing, I want to meet her!" Compa said exuberantly, her hands were clasped in front of her as she stared at the report in Noire's hands excitedly.

"Nepgear… Nepgear… why does that name sound familiar?" IF murmured to herself. She was certain she had never heard of anyone called Nepgear before now, but it sounded so familiar.

Falcom crossed her hands behind her head and gave her friends a happy grin, "Well, good to know she's not dead," she said as she crossed one leg over the other and leaned back against the wall.

"We're going to Planeptune," Noire said as she slapped the report down on the desk. "I'm going to give Neptune a piece of my mind for making me-us worry about her like that!"

IF let out a long sigh. "Ya, hopefully we can get there before Nep does something stupid, again," she said dryly. She turned away from the des and headed for the elevator. Falcom followed along behind, there wasn't any reason for her to remain in Lastation if IF was leaving.

"I'm going too Iffy!" Compa said as she hurried after her friend, "I want to lecture Nep-Nep as well."

Uni looked up at Noire as she headed for the elevator as well, "What do you—"

"Kei! Take all my calls for me, we'll be gone for a while," Noire said, speaking into the communication device on her ear that was connected to her Oracle. IF hit the button in the elevator the moment Noire stepped in and they were gone.

"…want me to do…" Uni trailed off quietly.

There was no one to hear her words. A gentle breeze blew in from the balcony, sending a single, lonesome report floating across the room.

Uni slumped in her chair and buried her face in her hands. She stared down at the reports on her desk, unseeing. Her face scrunched up so much she looked to be on the verge of tears.

"Why did I hope for more?" Uni whispered to the empty room, "I'll never amount to anything in her eyes."

She was just a lowly NPC. She was nothing but a desk assistant, sometimes relied upon when Kei was too busy to handle things alone. She should have expected this. She wasn't a close friend of a Goddess like Compa, she wasn't a powerful and renowned adventurer or Guild agent like Falcom and IF, and she certainly didn't come close to matching the CPU of Planeptune herself.

So she should have expected this, to be shoved aside and ignored in favor of those much more important than her.

But why did it have to hurt so much?

Uni choked back a sob. She wouldn't cry, she wouldn't let her emotions get the best of her. She had to be strong, like Noire, she had… she had to live up to Noire's expectations.

But she would do that tomorrow.

The tears began to flow.

It was nearly ten minutes later that Uni finally found the strength to move. Pushing away from the desk Uni stood up and slowly made her way to the elevator that Noire and the others had used. She was going to go home and sleep, and start over tomorrow. Maybe if she did all the work better Noire would praise her when she returned.

There was a ding as the elevator reached the floor. Uni stepped in it and hit the ground floor button. She glanced out across the room one last time and noticed how messy it was. "I guess I'll clean it up first thing… tomorrow…" she whispered. She couldn't muster up the energy to do it today, she needed to be alone.

As her elevator went down there was another ding as Kei's personal elevator on the other side of the room arrived.

"Uni?" Kei called out as she stepped off the elevator and into the room. The white haired oracle frowned as she glanced around the room. There was no one here and it was a mess. It wasn't like Uni to just up and leave a mess like this behind. She was probably buried in one of the mounds of reports or something, "Uni? Are you here?"

No response.

Kei frowned, this was truly odd. This wasn't like Uni at all. Noire had been rather upset that Uni hadn't followed her to the elevator and had sent Kei to go pick her up. Noire had wanted to take Uni along with her, to help show the young girl what it was like to deal with other nations. Noire had high hopes for the girl, even though she never showed it.

The communication device on her ear buzzed. Kei stopped and answered the call, "yes, Noire?"

"Have you found Uni yet?"

"She appears to be—"

"Wha! No don't fall on that!" Noire's panicked voice came over the line.

A loud horn blared across the line.

"Noire, what's wrong?" Kei asked worriedly. That was the sound the departure horn for the train they were taking to an outpost on Lastation's borders. They weren't scheduled to leave yet.

"Sorry … tripped … fell on…" Compa's broken voice floated in over the line.

"Damn it! We were supposed to wait for…" the connection cut off as the distance between Noire and Kei exceeded the distance the short-range communication device could go.

Kei sighed and shook her head. Everyone from Planeptune was strange in one way or another. IF didn't count as she was born and raised in Leanbox. Kei would just have to look for Uni and send her on after Noire. Such a shame too, she was certain Uni would have been overjoyed at the thought of going with Noire to Planeptune.

Before that however she'd clean up the mess in this room. It wouldn't do to leave it until the next day. Noire liked to keep everything perfectly neat and tidy.


	9. Scars

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hyperdimension Neptunia. All characters, thoughts and ideas that exist in this story that were taken from the original works belong to their creators, Compile Heart and Idea Factory. Only original thoughts and or characters created in this story are my own.**

**Author's Note: **Like last time, the first section may seem disconnected from the rest, and it is, but it`s not just a simple flashback.

**Chapter 9: Scars**

**At some point in time either in the past or future, somewhere that may or may not be the current Gamindustri…**

Neptune sat alone in her room as she brooded over the events that had occurred. She had locked herself in here soon after returning home 'victoriously.' She was still in her HDD form, she was always in her HDD form, ever since Histoire had died. With her Oracle gone she had no longer been afforded the luxury of slacking off.

Victory.

Never before had that word tasted so bitter to her.

The invasion was over, the viral monsters were beaten. There hadn't been a report of any attacks in over a week. Seemingly there had only been one portal, a portal that had kept jumping from location to location. With the disappearance of said portal Gamindustri was once more safe from viral infection.

But there was no joy to be had in this victory. The losses Planeptune had suffered over the course of the war had been staggering, mind numbing. It was hard to fathom how it would be possible for Planeptune to recover from the catastrophic damage that had been done. Much of the land was destroyed, ruined beyond repair. The citizens of the once great nation, culled almost to extinction. Planeptune possessed less than twenty percent of its original population, and most of that was its military.

IF, Compa and Code had also died in service to their nation, killed by the traitorous Noire. Those three, IF and Compa especially, were irreplaceable friends that had always been there for her, through thick and thin.

Even the one person who managed to keep her sane and moving forward after Histoire, her little sister, Nep. Jr, was dead.

Neptune glanced across the room at the plain looking sword that was prompted up against the wall near the door. What was left of Nepgear remained trapped within that sword. Even if Neptune could extract her sister from the depths of the blade, there was no body to put her in. Gamindustri had reclaimed Nepgear's body not long after Neptune had buried her in Planeptune's graveyard. Her grave marker rested beside the other casualties of the war, although one that had fallen early on.

Histoire, her faithful Oracle. Oh what Neptune wouldn't give to hear one of her patent lectures. She had been murdered not two months after the war began, before any of the heroes had joined their cause. It had to be an inside job, the shock on Histoire's face had bespoke of that, she had _recognized_ the attacker. But none of them had even thought to suspect each other, it was simply too unthinkable at the time.

Thinking about it logically, if Noire had planned this betrayal all along it would make sense that she would eliminate Histoire first. Histoire would have been able to detect the scheme long before it fully hatched. She would have given warning, her life… her life would have made Noire's betrayal impossible.

Noire…

Neptune wouldn't be surprised if someone walked up to her and handed her evidence that Noire had been behind the entire viral invasion in the first place.

Just thinking about that betrayal made her blood boil. Made her want to rage and scream, destroy things, annihilate everything. Just killing Noire wasn't enough. She wanted to make everyone connected to Noire suffer, just like she was suffering now.

Vert and Blanc, neither of them seemed particularly broken up by what had happened. They had bundled up their Candidates and had rushed back to their nations as quickly as possible, they hadn't even stayed for the burials.

They had both spoken of viral sightings in their own lands that needed to be taken care of before their nations suffered the same fate as hers.

But she didn't buy it for an instant. She had seen the looks in their eyes: The pity, the regret… the fear. They were scared of her, scared of something.

And Uni, that little bitch had taken Noire's body and ran home crying. For someone who claimed Nepgear as her closest friend, she didn't seem to care too much that she was gone. She had certainly been quick to claim Noire's old position for herself, calling herself the new CPU of Lastation. She even had the audacity to invite Neptune to Noire's funeral after refusing to stay for Nepgear's!

Neptune's eyes glowed a dark malevolent red as her anger spiked. She clenched her jaw and balled her hands into fists. She knew they were all secretly glad Planeptune was destroyed. They were glad that she was suffering. They were glad that she had nothing left. They were free now to claim all the shares of Gamindustri and bury Planeptune into the annals of history.

Well she wouldn't accept that. She'd break their bodies and force them to watch their nations burn down around them!

Neptune's rage erupted and a dark sickly purple aura erupted from her body. The door to her room blew outwards and punched through the wall on the other side of the hallway. Neptune stormed out of the room, grabbing the cursed sword Gehaburn as she did, tucking it away into one of her quick slots for easy access.

She would need it.

She would make sure Nepgear had lots of company. It was all she could do for her sister now.

The first stage of her revenge required a speech. Her people were tired of war, they didn't want another fight, but she would give them a reason to go to war. A reason to fight. With their support she could easily crush Lastation. While Lastation had a larger military now that Planeptune was in ruins, Noire was dead, and Uni couldn't even begin to match Neptune's own power.

If she attacked before Leanbox and Lowee could interfere, Neptune was sure she could crush Lastation.

Her thoughts began to move lightning quick now. It wouldn't do simply to destroy those nations, new ones would eventually arise to take their place. No, she needed to do something more permanent. She needed to replace what she destroyed.

And she would replace it with herself. So that she never had to suffer again, never have to lose those she cared about to greed, avarice, and competition, she would become the sole power that ruled over all Gamindustri.

She would create a monopoly!

Her mouth twisted into a smile as she went over that thought a second time. A monopoly, she liked the thought of that.

With that thought in mind she rounded the last corner and entered her office, the large room with a pair of double glass doors leading out onto the balcony. There she stopped, startled by what she found.

Sitting in a semi-circle around each other were Falcom, UbiSlyph, Star, Ocean and Valkyrie. They had been talking quietly amongst each other but when Neptune arrived their conversation quickly died.

They all looked over at her with varying shades of remorse and sadness in their eyes. THEY had all at least attended the funerals, wishing their fallen comrades one last farewell. Neptune had expected that of Falcom and UbiSlyph, they were both been residents of Planeptune. But the other three were from Leanbox and Lastation. The fact that they had chosen to come to Nepgear's funeral instead of Noire's meant a lot to her.

"Neptune, is there anything you need me to do?" Falcom asked as she slowly rose to her feet. It pained her to see Neptune hurting like this, and to see her home ruined so.

Neptune shook her head and smiled at her companions, "no, you've all done enough for Planeptune, you all deserve to rest." For what was coming next was something she'd love to have their support, but didn't necessarily want to involve them in, especially Valkyrie. She doubted Valkyrie would care much for what was to come.

"You're serious… about what you said in the cave then?" Falcom asked with trepidation.

Neptune gave Falcom a pointed look and made her way over to her computer. "Yes, Noire did more than just kill Nepgear, IF, Compa and Code," the Goddess of Planeptune said. She stopped as she reached her computer and began to send out a general assembly message to all Planeptune's citizens.

"What do you mean more than that?" Falcom asked. The others were also giving her looks of confusion and curiosity. The four of them already knew about Noire's betrayal. While the general populace didn't, it wasn't fair to keep it a secret from those that had put in the most effort, those that deserved to know the most.

There was another subset of people that deserved to know as well, and Neptune intended to inform them as soon as possible.

"Noire killed Histoire," Neptune said. Falcom and the others let out gasps of surprise.

Noire had been viral, or going viral, when she had done this betrayal. But to suggest that she killed Histoire meant that she had been planning this long before she had gone viral, or had been viral longer than anyone had noticed. "If Histoire had been alive, she would have seen this coming long before it happened. She would have noticed something amiss with Noire, everything could have been prevented."

"And that's why you think Noire killed Histoire," UbiSlyph said in a soft voice, "it makes sense from a logistics stand point. Take out or limit the enemies ability to gather information, and you're free to do whatever you want on whatever time schedule you desire. But that's assuming she actually planned any of this before hand."

That girl had a good head on her shoulders, she'd go far after the war, and Neptune did need a new Oracle. "I'm certain she planned it. I still remember Histoire's expression, she _recognized_ her killer. If Not Noire than who?" Neptune said as she gave UbiSlyph a questioning look.

"I guess it is possible," UbiSlyph admitted, "she was close enough to Planeptune that she could have made it back before us after saving Uni."

"Yes," Neptune agreed. "And I wouldn't be surprised if she was behind the entire viral invasion but I don't have any evidence to support that yet."

"Noire never struck me as the type of person to consort with viral monsters," Valkyrie said in a low, almost masculine voice.

"She never struck me as the type of person that would backstab her allies either," Neptune retorted. She had to force herself to keep her voice calm and level, Valkyrie was just showing loyalty to the woman she once followed.

Misplaced loyalty, sure, but not something to be skewered for.

"And now you're going to burn Lastation to the ground?" Falcom asked, eliciting another round of gasps from the assembled heroes.

"Yes."

"I… don't understand, Noire is gone, she has been punished for her crimes, you don't need to go this far," Valkyrie protested as she rose to her feet. There was a look of deep concern and consternation in her eyes.

"It's not enough," Neptune replied as she hit a key and sent the message out to everyone in Planeptune. It was too late to back out now.

"Even with Noire dead… she has still left behind a legacy that is capable of carrying on her name," UbiSlyph said softly, understanding where Neptune was coming from.

"Yes, Uni. I don't know if she was in on all this, but she didn't seem all that hurt by what happened to Planeptune and I'm not going to let Noire rest easy knowing that her nation will thrive under her little sister," Neptune spat out angrily. The thought of Lastation going on, while Planeptune floundered and fell, enraged her to no end. Her features softened and she gave each of the heroes a long look, "This is my war, you have all earned a long rest, none of you need to dirty your hands with this."

She didn't expect any of them to help her, but she desperately hoped none of them would try to stop her, Valkyrie included. She'd hate to lose more companions so soon after she lost her sister and the others but she would kill them if they tried to stop her. She hoped that if they left, they left peacefully.

Falcom sighed and rubbed her eyes, "I've been with you from the start. I'll see this through to the end. It's what IF would have done."

"Just tell me who you want eliminated and I'll make them disappear," UbiSlyph said as she stood and threw her support behind Neptune. If UbiSlyph had to be honest, this ending didn't sit well with her. She had grown close with the others over the last few years and knowing that she had unwittingly helped Noire in her efforts by not figuring her out sooner, and worse sending her after Nepgear and the others, made her sick to her stomach.

"I can't help you," Valkyrie said as she slowly backed away from the group, "I can't help you destroy my home."

Neptune nodded and gave Valkyrie a sympathetic smile, she had expected as much. "I know, and I won't ask you to. All I'll ask is that you don't try to stop us. I've already lost too many friends, I don't want to lose any more." Neptune glanced over at Star and Ocean, wondering what the two siblings would do. Truth be told Neptune had already guessed Falcom's, UbiSlyph's and Valkyrie's responses even before she mentioned her intentions.

Only Star and Ocean were unknowns.

Star looked over at Ocean, uncertainty shone in her eyes. She was torn, she didn't know what to do. "I'll follow your decision, brother."

Ocean looked over at her sister. He wanted to help Neptune, there was still justice to be meted out, but he knew that look in his sister's eyes. She was tired of the blood, the war, of the stench of death. She'd follow his lead, but she wanted nothing more than to go someplace far away and try to recover her lost innocence.

That made up his mind, although she'd follow him, he'd never do anything that caused her undue pain. "We'll have to pass as well. We've both had enough of war, we just want to rest."

"And you've earned every moment of that rest," Neptune said as she gave them grateful smiles. The two of them had been an incredible help in the war against the viral monsters. It wasn't right, and she wouldn't ask, for more than what they had already given. "Go, with my blessings, if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask. I'll do all I can to help you." It was disappointing, but her plans hadn't included them anyways. She had planned to do this alone, so even the help of Falcom and UbiSlyph was more than enough.

"Thank you, for everything," Ocean said as he gave Neptune a smile.

Neptune returned his smile and stood up from her desk. It was time to get ready, she needed to prepare herself for the speech to come. A change of outfit was called for, something that increased her sex appeal to help boost faith in her. Something such as a transparent front, that let people see her stomach, a tighter cut to the sides of her bodysuit so that it showed skin up to her hips. She also planned on enhancing her breast size by a few centimeters and show a bit more of it. New accents on her suit would also go a long way to emphasizing her curves.

"Valkyrie, Star, Ocean, it was a pleasure fighting alongside you all these years, I hope you all the best in the future," Neptune said and made her way from the room.

She would have to move quickly, so that she could hit Lastation before they were fully prepared.

**~o~**

That afternoon Neptune gave the greatest speech of her life from the balcony of her Basilicom. She spoke passionately to the masses, raising their morale, lifting their spirits, thanking them and pledging undying support and aid towards them in the difficult times to come. And just as when their passion and fervor towards her reached a crescendo, she dropped the bombshell about Noire's betrayal.

Nepgear and Histoire were both as beloved of the people as she herself was. Neptune had little trouble garnering support for the war against Lastation. Even if everyone was sick and tired of war, even if they wanted nothing more than to simply sit back and rebuild their lives.

In the depths of all their minds, doubts plagued them. Why did they suffer while the others lived on in peace?

While Neptune never specifically stated that Noire was behind the viral attack, the implication was there, hidden between the lines, and the masses picked up on it. With a reason for their suffering clear, with a target they could unleash their pent up frustration, anger, and sorrow, finally identified.

They wanted what she wanted.

Revenge.

The assault of Lastation came soon after.

To the other nations of the world the attack had come as a complete surprise. No one had expected it. Noire and Neptune had been closer than anyone else, often fighting side by side. The two had been nearly inseparable. Most had thought the two nations would be even tighter, now that the war was over and sharing a common grief over the loss of their loved ones. Many had expected Neptune to take Uni under her wing to help fill the holes left in both their hearts. Uni had even drafted up some proposals to send to Planeptune that would help in the reconstruction of said nation.

But it was not to be and by the time the other nations had learned about the speech, Neptune had already crossed the border into Lastation with an army at her back. An army that was battle hardened by years of war against the worst viral invasion Gamindustri had ever suffered. What they lacked in numbers they made up for in grit, determination, strength, experience, tactics and sheer force of will.

The soldiers of Lastation, who had spent much of the last war simply guarding the borders of their nation in case of an attack that never came, were no match for Neptune and her armies. Like an unstoppable tidal wave, Planeptune's forces surged across Lastation, attacking outpost after outpost, city after city, zone after zone, and they all fell.

Uni, to her credit, did her utmost to try and protect the land that her sister loved, but she lacked the force of presence, the charisma, and the strength that her sister had. The generals rarely listened, and when they did, they always had their own ideas on how to execute her strategies. She lacked her sister's ability to stir the masses to fight, most were too busy wallowing in sorrow over the loss of their CPU to bother responding to her calls for aid.

And on top of that she was alone. Neptune had the heroes that helped save Gamindustri on her side. Falcom was always there, leading her armies into battle and UbiSlyph always made sure the enemy orders never made it to the troops. Generals, strategists and messengers were always the first ones to fall, taken out before the troops could be organized to mount a proper defense or counter attack.

So despite Uni's best efforts, she still found an army knocking on the very doorsteps of Lastation, with most of her own armies out maneuvered, sent running off into the middle of nowhere chasing phantoms, or outright destroyed.

Uni had tried to hold one of the armies back at Lastation as a last resort, but the Generals had overruled her behind her back. And now she was left with only her own honor guard to protect the city from an army larger, better equipped and more experienced than her own.

Led by two powerful heroes and a CPU several times Uni's strength.

"I must implore you, Uni, not to do battle against Neptune and the others," Kei said. Deep lines of concern creased her forehead, one that still showed and were amplified by the ravages of grief that news of Noire's death had brought.

Kei didn't want to lose Uni so soon after losing Noire. Uni had potential; she had the brains and the work ethics to match that of her sister. Time would grant her the strength and experience would get her the charisma and force of will she needed.

But she needed to live if she ever wanted to get that strength and experience.

"And do what you suggested? Go run into the arms of Lowee like a rat fleeing a sinking ship?" Uni shot back angrily. She wasn't angry at Kei, but at the hopeless situation she found herself in. "My sister spent her entire life building Lastation into the greatest nation in Gamindustri, I'm not throwing it away without a fight," she said vigorously as she checked her equipment one last time. She had to fight, even if it was hopeless, she had to. If she ran now it would be like admitting she didn't have what it took to be a CPU.

Kei let out a long, pained sigh. Uni had also inherited Noire's stubbornness, which while normally a good thing was nothing but problematic in this type of situation. However Kei was certain there was another reason Uni wanted to confront Neptune. "I know Noire, she would never try betray Neptune like Neptune said she did. Someone must be planting false information."

"I know that as well. Noire loved Neptune… she… loved Neptune more than she loved me…" it hurt to admit that, but it was true. Noire certainly cared about her little sister a great deal, did everything she could to help build Uni into a strong person. But Neptune was always first, Neptune was the only person her sister ever got embarrassed around. If Noire had been more honest with her feelings before the war had broken out… Planeptune and Lastation might have already been one nation by now.

"Then why…"

"Because I know Neptune too, she wouldn't make this up, I need to know the truth," Uni declared fiercely. She would get to the bottom of this, no matter the cost.

Uni activated her transformation, becoming momentarily covered in brilliant white and black light. When the light died down Uni was transformed into her HDD state. She had brilliant green eyes inset into a cute face framed with white hair pulled up into twin curled pig-tails. Her normally conservative black dress was replaced with a tiny two-piece black bikini that practically glued itself to her skin. She wore tall, thigh high black heeled boots and black gloves that went up past her biceps. Uni was also the only CPU whose breasts shrunk on transformation.

However her weapon was one of the largest. In her hands was an enormous beam cannon, capable of hitting targets ten miles away with pinpoint accuracy and enough destructive force to put nuclear weapons to shame.

"Please Uni…"

"Kei, thanks, for everything," Uni said as she gave Kei one last final smile, "please monitor the battle and take what you find out to Lowee for me."

"I will," Kei promised. It was Uni's last order, and final wish. They both knew that she wouldn't survive the battle to come.

"Thank you," Uni said and shot off through the balcony windows to do battle with Neptune and her forces.

"First Noire, and now Uni," Kei said quietly to herself as she made her way to the main computer terminal, the one Noire used to always use. Uni never did touch it, not willing to throw everything that was her sister away just yet. "I wonder how I failed to see this coming… to not be able to save either of them." She stopped in front of the computer terminal and began to go through the programs.

She would monitor the fight and take everything she discovered to the other CPU's. Uni was right, something strange was going on here. Kei herself had suspected that the moment Noire's death arrived.

Kei frowned, the program wasn't there. That didn't make any sense. It was built into the operating system. It should be…

Her eyes widened in absolute horror as she realized what was going on. The viral invasion wasn't over. There was a virus in their system! A powerful one, one that probably infected the entire world. She quickly flittered through the files on the desktop and stopped in absolute shock and horror when her eyes rested on a particular document.

"Unified Goddess Front: Stage One – Planeptune's Destruction," Kei whispered in disbelief as she read the title of the document aloud.

She clicked on the file and opened it up. It was there, everything from start to finish. It was a document file that completely implicated Lastation as the primary instigator of the viral war that almost destroyed Planeptune. Everything was here, from how to connect to Viraldustri, to the murder of Histoire, and ultimately the end of Neptune, Nepgear and the other Planeptune centric heroes.

But it wasn't signed by just Noire and Uni. No, there at the bottom, were signatures from everyone else: Vert, Blanc, Rom, Ram, and even Vert's little sister.

But this was impossible, this file was an impossibility! There was no way they would agree to something like this. Rom and Ram wouldn't even understand half the words written IN the document and they didn't even _have_ signatures!

Something, or someone, had planted this file here. Planted it for Neptune to find…

A sickening feeling developed in the pit of Kei's stomach. She looked up from the screen, fearful of what she would find there. Kei didn't know why she hadn't considered this possibility. It made logical sense considering how Neptune had made war up until this point. Take away the enemies lines of communication and logistics capabilities first, then deal with the main forces when they were helpless.

Which was why Kei was kicking herself for not figuring this out sooner.

UbiSlyph was slowly making her way across the room towards her.

She was dead, she'd never be able fulfill Uni's last wish. But at least she could do one last deed in service of Gamindustri.

She hit delete on the planted file.

'Access Denied' flashed across the screen. It was definitely a planted file. Why else would Noire's account not be able to delete a file it _created_?

Any further musings were halted as UbiSlyph blurred towards her.

A single tear dripped down Kei's cheek before Ubislyph was upon her. A hidden wrist mounted blade went through her throat and into her brain, ending her life before she was able to erase the false evidence.

UbiSlyph gently closed Kei's eyes and laid her down upon the ground. She made sure that the kill had been quick and painless. She had nothing against Kei, but she was the greatest threat to her goddess currently still alive in Lastation.

She glanced over at the monitor, mildly curious as to what it was that Kei felt was more important than her own life. She hadn't intended to look long but the highlighted file name instantly grabbed her attention.

UbiSlyph approached the computer, her eyes widening as she read the file name a second time. With a shaking hand she double clicked on the file, displaying its contents across the screen. In that singular instant all of UbiSlyph's hopes were dashed, destroyed, and thrown out the window. She had hoped to find evidence here, in Lastation, that contradicted Neptune's currently held theories about a conspiracy against Planeptune. That Noire had nothing to do with the invasion and it was simply the viral infection that had taken hold of her that had done everything.

But this file, this single file, served to not only confirm Neptune's every suspicion, but deepen them to include all of Gamindustri. The other Goddesses had used the viral invasion as a means of secretly restarting the console war. They had teamed up against Neptune because she was the strongest, the most advanced, the greatest threat.

"This war… is going to get a lot worse before it gets any better," UbiSlyph said quietly, her voice almost breaking. It seemed all of Gamindustri was against Planeptune.

**~o~**

"And so falls Noire's legacy, and the last of her dreams," Neptune hissed in pleasure as she stared down at the sea of flames. Lastation was completely ablaze, its people dying by the thousands as they were burned alive. Screams of fear, pain, and terror rose up from the city creating a great cacophony that sounded sweeter than any music to Neptune's ears. Her forces ringed the city, shooting and killing any that managed to escape the inferno.

"W-Why…" Uni choked out, blood dribbled down her down. She herself was on death's door, only still alive because Neptune deemed it so. She hung limply in Neptune's grasp, the older CPU's fingers digging harshly into her scalp, as she was forced to watch the end of everything her sister had worked for.

"Because the cries of my people will not silence until they are drowned out by the screams of yours!"

Uni flinched, sending sharp pains scorching across her body. Neptune was borderline insane now, Uni could hear it in her voice, feel it in her words. "Sis… loved you…"

Neptune gave Uni a twisted grin, "she sure had a strange way of showing her 'love.'"

"She… would have done… anything… for you…"

The smile on Neptune's face was anything but natural, "if you truly believe that, then I don't think you knew your sister as well as you thought you did," Neptune said as she twisted Uni's face around to stare her straight in the face.

Uni's eyes widened in horror as she stared into Neptune's eyes, dark red iris' surrounded by an ocean of darkness. It wasn't possible but the evidence was there, right in front of her. If it happened to Neptune it could have happened to her sister. It would explain everything. She had to tell her, before it was too late, "Neptune! You've gone—" whatever else she was about to say was cut off as a plain looking sword ripped through her ruined body.

The Second CPU of Lastation, the former CPU Candidate, Uni, screamed in pure agony as her power and soul were ripped from her body and sucked into the blood drenched blade that pierced her. With the sound like shattering glass, Uni's HDD shattered into a million pixels. The young girl twitched a few more times as the last of her essence left her body then she went still, the light of life disappearing from her eyes.

Now Nepgear and Uni could be together forever on oblivion.

"And so ends Lastation," Neptune said as she let go. Uni's body hung there, suspended on the end of her sword. Then with a sickening squelch Uni's body slid off the end and tumbled from the sky. Blood trailed behind her, pouring out the gaping wound in her body. A few moments later she disappeared, swallowed up by the massive inferno that was consuming every inch of Lastation.

Neptune continued to float up there, above the burning city of Lastation for the remainder of the day. Her arms were outstretched to either side as she bathed in the warmth the burning city gave off, relishing the cacophony of pain.

It wasn't until a hushed and unnatural silence picked up after the last of the screams disappeared that Neptune finally made her way to the main encampment where her generals were gathered. Falcom and UbiSlyph would be there as well, waiting to give their reports to her.

Neptune had plans to make. She needed to come up with a reason, an excuse, to invade Lowee and Leanbox. The same one that spurred her people to attack Lastation wouldn't work for the other two nations.

She would find a way, she always did.

**x~X~x**

**Back in the present day…**

**In a place that may or may not be the same Gamindustri as the previous scene…**

**But is at least the same Gamindustri as the previous chapter…**

"Are you going out again today?" Mina asked Blanc worriedly as she watched the CPU of Lowee make her way across the Basilicom main floor to the large exit leading outside. Blanc was in her normal, human form, as she wasn't expecting to get into any trouble today.

Blanc stopped and turned to look at Mina, "Yes," she said softly, "I can't let Planeptune steal the spotlight. I need to find my own… little sisters."

"What about your new motion controller? Surely it would help salvage Lowee and restore some shares," Mina suggested as she made her way over to her CPU.

"It… won't be enough." She hadn't even bothered to look at the motion controller since the time she had shattered the prototype off the ground. It was a good device, but only really designed to help her edge up over the others. It wouldn't do anything about the titanic threat that Planeptune had become. "Please, look into finding… that item I desire."

"Of course, Blanc, I'll spend the entire day looking," Mina said and gave Blanc a reassuring smile.

"Thank you," Blanc said and made her way out of the Basilicom.

The moment she was gone the smile dropped from Mina's face, "well, I never promised 'what' I would spend the entire day looking for," she said as she stared out the door when Blanc had disappeared, "I can't have you finding the twins."

Mina turned away from the door and hurried across the floor and deeper into the Basilicom. Her destination was a place Blanc never went to, she never had any reason to: the dungeons. Despite Blanc's temperamental personality when someone upset her, and the reputation she carried outside of Lowee as a result, she had never once sentenced anyone to the dungeon. She had never even been there.

It was 'Mina's' sanctuary. A cold, dark place made out of cold hard granite that carried a hint of musty mold and fetid water. A place where prisoners were held behind cast iron bars, fortified and made indestructible due to Gamindustri rules. A place she could do whatever she wanted, to whoever she wanted, without Blanc noticing.

She walked past the two guards at the entrance to the dungeon without slowing down. They were hers, and hers alone. Men were so easily enraptured. Sway your hips this way, show a little skin that way, and leave behind a few suggestive remarks and they were putty in your hands.

Not that anyone would dare question why the 'Oracle' of Lowee was down in the dungeons.

A smirk crossed Mina's face as she stopped before a door located at the very back of the dungeon. Here were the isolation cells, where one was locked up and almost never seen again. Mina pulled out a large black key that was covered with dark red veins and inserted it into the lock. A sigil flashed on the door and it unlocked, letting the Oracle into the room beyond.

"How are you doing my dear?" Mina asked as she stepped into the isolation chamber.

The sole occupant of the cell was a tall, fair-skinned, woman with long cyan blue hair, and deep ocean blue eyes. She hung, suspended from the ceiling, her wrists manacled together and her legs pulled apart. The woman was dirty and soiled after having been imprisoned in here for so long without break, and her once full figure had started to become malnourished due to lack of proper meals.

"Blanc will find out, and then you will pay for this," the tall woman growled fiercely at 'Mina,' her eyes glowing menacingly.

"You still seem to have some fire left in you, Mina," 'Mina' said as she approached the cyan haired woman. She stopped just a few feet away and smirked at the 'former' Oracle of Lowee, "but we'll see how long that will last." She snapped her fingers.

Four men entered the isolation room, two large burly guards and two smaller ones that were dressed head-to-toe in red garments. They also had a long red apron and dark red latex gloves on their hands.

One of them was pushing a cart filled with an assortment of wicked looking tools from pincers and knives of all shapes and sizes to hooks and chains. It didn't take a genius to guess what was to come next.

"I won't tell you anything!"

'Mina' smiled maliciously, "oh, I think you will. Before you became the Oracle of Lowee you were in charge of all the orphanages in Lowee. Their records seem to have disappeared from the system however. You will tell me where those records are." With those records it would be child's play to find the twins before Blanc.

"Never!"

'Mina' sighed and shook her head from side to side in false pity, "you'll wish you hadn't said that soon enough." 'Mina' said as she turned and made her way to the door. She paused on the threshold and glanced back at the 'Information Specialists.' "Do let me know when she's ready to speak, until then, you're free to do with her as you please, just don't kill her, or harm her ability to speak."

"Yes, CFW Magic!" The four men said in unison as they saluted 'Mina.'

CFW Magic gave the four of them one last smile and left the room. She hadn't even left the dungeon before the screaming began.

**x~X~x**

"Rise and shine, Neptune!" Nepgear said as she quietly opened the door to her sister's bedroom. She herself had been given a room just beside it that was decorated and furnished in very much the same manner as her sister's.

The room was dark, too dark to make out anything deep inside. But that was easily rectified when Nepgear hit the light switch and started across the room. Nepgear was here to take her older sister questing. She wouldn't let Neptune grow weak in times of peace, she needed to get stronger, strong enough to protect all of them.

There was movement on the bed and a sleepy Neptune slowly sat up. The covers slid down her nude body and pooled around her waist, "Mmm? Nepgear? What time is it?" Neptune asked as she slowly looked around for a clock.

Nepgear's blood froze and her heart nearly stopped as she stared at her sister in shock. Neptune wasn't in her normal form, she was in her HDD state. Fear gripped Nepgear's heart and for a short moment she thought she was back then, to a time after Histoire had been killed and Neptune had stopped being Neptune and had become more Purple Heart, the Goddess of Planeptune.

But a quick memory flashed by her, a groggy and sleepy Histoire with a bad case of bed-head sipping on the tea Nepgear had prepared not thirty minutes ago. Her heart started to beat again and warmth came back to her.

Something was wrong, but it wasn't the same as before.

"Nepgear?" Neptune asked, concern evident in her voice as she looked over at her frozen sister.

"Ah! I-it's nothing Neptune," Nepgear said as she started across the room again. "It's six am, we were to do quests this morning."

"Right, I suppose that is the right thing to do," Neptune said as she brought her legs over the edge of the bed and slowly stood up. She arched back and stretched the stiffness from her muscles. Her body glowed briefly and a fresh, clean bodysuit wrapped itself around her.

"So you really have no problem doing quests today?" Nepgear asked curiously. She had expected Neptune to protest kicking and screaming the entire way to the Guild, not this automatic acceptance. Although she hadn't expected her sister to wake up transformed either.

Neptune gave her little sister a sly grin, "well, I figure if I do a few quick quests this morning I can be back before lunch and spend the rest of the day relaxing and gaming without Histoire throwing a fit." And she wouldn't lose seventy-two hours' worth of gameplay because Histoire pulled the plug on her like she did back in Chapter 1.

A bright smile lit up Nepgear's face. That was the sister she was used to hearing and seeing!

**~o~**

"You're good my little sister, but not good enough! Super Hyper Chop!" Neptune shouted victoriously. Her little fingers flashed over the console controller inputting the dozen commands for the super unique special attack.

"You got me again, Neptune," Nepgear said as she let the attack hit. Giant numbers popped up over the head of her character and her HP dived bombed to zero, giving Neptune a victory. Nepgear had refrained from using the two button counter-break that would have easily defeated the attack. It wasn't fair to use future knowledge to beat her sister, at least not all the time anyways. She couldn't let Neptune's head get too big for her shoulders.

The two of them were in their human forms, relaxing in Neptune's game room. Neptune was stretched out across a bean bag with Nepgear kneeling beside her playing video games as Neptune was want to do. They were playing a new fighting game that had just been released. Nepgear, however, had already played and mastered it long before now so she held a significant advantage over her older sister.

Histoire was in the other room doing Oracle type work. As much as she wanted to berate Neptune for lazing around, she had to bite her tongue since Nepgear had already dragged Neptune out earlier that morning to do a few quick easy quests.

After Neptune's disappearing act Histoire had stored up a lot of stern words and lectures she wanted throw at Neptune, but it was hard to justify doing so when she was actually do her job. It was just one more reason why Nepgear's sudden appearance was both a blessing and a curse.

Neptune was about to start another round when Nepgear laid a hand on her hand, stopping her. Neptune looked up at her little sister curiously and Nepgear pointed at their empty tea cups, "I'm going to go make us some more tea, I'll be right back."

"Right-o my little sister! I'll beat on the computer bots until you get back!" Neptune said with a grin and swapped the second player to computer in the options. Neptune loved having a little sister, it made getting snacks and drinks while playing games easy now. Histoire always complained so much whenever Neptune asked her to bring her snacks.

"I'll be right back!" Nepgear said and made her way from the room.

It wasn't a long jaunt to the kitchen from the game room, Neptune had ordered it made close by to her room and the game room so that she had easy access to her snacks at all the crucial times in her life, such as waking up and playing games.

Nepgear hummed a little tune as she entered the kitchen and went through the automatic motions of preparing Neptune her snacks. While making the tea she heard the door to the sanctuary open up and familiar voices drifted into the kitchen. She could make out IF's annoyed voice and Compa's concerned one, as well as others that were too low for her to make out properly.

There were four in arrivals in total, she could feel that through the vibrations in the floor. Combined with Histoire it would be five, as Histoire would most certainly take them to Neptune's game room.

Nepgear reached for three more cups, her body instinctively knowing the weight of each individual and who it corresponded to. Falcom, Histoire and… Nepgear's mind went blank momentarily… would need tea. Compa would want milk and IF would want some beer, especially if the tone of her voice was any indication. She was probably stressed out over Neptune, again.

Piling the various drinks and snacks onto the tray she had purchased for just such an occasion, Nepgear made her way back to the game room. She could hear the others long before she reached the room. A small smile lit up her face as she heard IF's distinctive voice berating Neptune for the worry she had caused everyone and her stupidity of tying herself to the mast of a ship.

Neptune, of course, didn't sound the least bit apologetic whenever she managed to get a word in edge wise, which wasn't very often as IF continually talked over her.

Entering the room brought back fond, nostalgic memories of the past. The vision she saw was of warmth and kindness. The kind you only saw when everyone cared about everyone else. Neptune was kneeling on the beanbag with one hand scratching the back of her head as she looked up at IF sheepishly. IF was bent at the waist as she glowered down at the purpled haired girl in anger, the kind of anger ones displays towards loved ones who misbehaved. Compa stood not far to IF's right, a stern look on her face as well, but also a very happy and compassionate one. Compa always was quick to forgive and Neptune, despite her words, did look semi-apologetic.

For anyone else that would be the equivalent of groveling for forgiveness.

Histoire floated to the other side of IF, her arms were crossed and a satisfied smile on her face as she watched on. Seeing IF all fired up over the concern Neptune had generated gave Histoire the perfect opportunity to throw in a few succinct words and chastisements.

Falcom stood at the entrance, giving the three of them some space. There was an amused smile on her face as she looked on. She turned away from the scene as Nepgear entered the room and gave her an odd, curious look.

Nepgear balance the tray on one hand and handed Falcom her tea which the adventuress accepted somewhat hesitantly. The curious look on Falcom's face became even more intense.

There was another person in the room but Nepgear's mind didn't register her.

"Neptune, I brought some tea," Nepgear said as she slowly walked across the room. All conversation ceased as IF and Compa looked over at her. They had varying degrees of confusion and curiosity on their faces.

"Just in time little sis! You saved me!" Neptune said joyfully as she jumped up from the bean bag and rushed over to the tray of goodies that Nepgear was holding. Neptune had her tea in one hand and a cookie in the other before Nepgear even made it halfway across the room.

"Gear?!" IF said in absolute shock. She did not expect Gear to be here of all people. That wouldn't… wait… Gear, Gear, NepGear… "You're Nepgear?" That drew Falcom's and Compa's attention for sure. Both of them were eyeing Nepgear with a little more interest now than they were.

"Yes, thank you IF, for delivering that disc to me," Nepgear said as she gave IF a brilliant smile, "you have no idea how much it meant to me." Nor would she ever truly understand. IF had literally given her a new lease on life because of that courier mission.

"What disc?" Histoire asked curiously. She had absolutely no clue on how Nepgear came about, this was the first time she had ever heard about any disc.

"There was a courier quest some time ago I undertook, said it would boost Planeptune's shares by fifteen percent. It was a simple one, just had to deliver a really valuable looking disc to Gear," IF said as she shook her head in disbelief, "I never actually thought it would boost Planeptune's shares that much though."

Neptune smiled at IF as she set the tray of treats and beverages on the carpeted floor next to Neptune's bean bag. "Yes, that disc helped me transform into a CPU Candidate." The disc had been made out of the leftover Sharicite shards from her first transformation into Nepgear. The shards had then been imprinted with the memories of her past, what was left of her soul after it was pulled from the Gehaburn, and used to create her as she was today.

But she couldn't tell them that. She worried too much about what they would think about her.

"Ah who cares about the small stuff! We have cookies and tea! Let's eat and play games!" Neptune said cheerfully as she stuffed another cookie into her mouth.

"Don't eat too fast Neptune, you'll choke," Nepgear said in concern as she hovered over her sister protectively.

"Awh you don't have to worry my gyrating sibling—COUGH, HACK." Neptune started to chock as some of the cookie she had been eating went down the wrong tube.

"Neptune!" Nepgear shouted in concern and began to slap Neptune's back really hard to try and force the cookie chunks up.

Neptune started to look a little green, "BLARGH!"

"What the goodness!" Nepgear cried out as all of Neptune's cookies, the ones both in her stomach and her lungs, painted Nepgear's outfit an odd color that should have been too disgusting to be allowed to exist.

IF's eyes widened as she finally realized what Random NPC 60173 had meant by that second reward! She had finally received it! All of her misfortune surrounding Neptune had been transferred to Gear.

Right then and there, IF didn't care how Gear became Nepgear, her existence was a boon IF wasn't going to let go any time soon.

"Sorry, Nep. Jr," Neptune said as she began to wipe the slime and puke off Nepgear's front.

"What?! No, stop! You're just smearing it in!" Nepgear complained, she couldn't fight her sister off either, not with her hands full with a tray of tea and snacks.

"Oh, whoopsie, I'll take care of it lickity split!"

"Please don't!"

A gentle hand landed on Nepgear's shoulder, "so you're Planeptune's new CPU Candidate, Nepgear?" Noire asked as she eyed Nepgear up and down curiously.

"Huh?" Nepgear said in confusion and looked up at Noire as if noticing her for the first time.

She stiffened, she remembered that face. It was a face she could never forget. Snarled green hair, burning red eyes, darkened face, a twisted smile.

Her eyes dilated.

Emotions and memories slammed into her body with the force of a freight train.

Darkness.

Liquid nightmares oozed out of the burning rift.

Fear.

A bone chilling laugh that froze the blood in her veins.

Anger.

An unthinkable betrayal by the one who had sworn to fight for them.

Pain.

The smell of her blood, it was everywhere, she could see it covering everything.

Terror.

Speed beyond sight's ability to track, too fast for her body to keep up.

Despair.

Planeptune's hope crumbling into pieces.

Nepgear screamed. An anguished wail so full of pain and despair it carved a bloody path straight though to one's soul. She was back in that cave, fighting against her, against the one that had caused her so much pain and anguish, fighting against something far worse than anything her nightmares could envision. It was all so real, she just wanted to die, she couldn't take it anymore. She curled up into a tiny ball and waited for the end to come.

The pain, she could feel it all over again, every time she moved, every breath she took, it was like her body was on fire. Her nerves screamed in agony, her mind blistered under the assault.

Where was her sister? She wanted her sister. Neptune… Neptune… Only Neptune could save her, why wasn't she here when she needed her most?

"…alright… Nepgear, …here."

She thought she heard something. It sounded so much like her sister that she wanted to believe it was real. But it couldn't be. Her sister was fighting against a horde of viral monsters half a nation away. She wasn't there to save her. She wasn't there to help her.

Neptune could not arrive in time, Nepgear would suffer and die, over and over. This was a battle she had to fight a lone, and die alone.

It was a trick, it had to be.

But something felt very warm.

Where was the cold oblivion that had enveloped her? This wasn't what she remembered…

"…Nepgear! Please…"

That voice… it couldn't be, her sister was… she was…

"Nepgear!"

A loud shout broke through the haze of memories. The dark cavern wavered and shifted, the hideous laughter faded into a distant drone, the cold air became a little warmer. A dull light flooded around her, accompanied by just a little bit of warmth. Color returned slowly returned, accompanied by the faint sound of game music in the background.

She was still screaming, she could feel herself screaming, but it almost felt like someone else. Like someone else was screaming in her place, was it really her that was screaming? Or was it some other Nepgear? She didn't know…

"Nepgear! Please, tell me what's going on!" Neptune's panicked voice reached her ears. Nepgear was certain now. Her older sister really was there with her. Neptune had made it across Planeptune to rescue her. She was there in the cave with her… but she didn't sound like she normally did. This one sounded worried, concerned, and almost fearful, no she was scared, very scared. Something was very wrong. Where was the confident, always positive sister she was used to?

She felt like she was falling, and suddenly she found herself pressed between Neptune's breasts. Her sister was transformed, her arms wrapped protectively around her, holding her close to her as if she would never let her go.

It felt warm, comforting, and very wet.

Neptune was wet? Had she just come out of the bath? Or was it because of her?

She was crying, she was screaming and she hurt all over, as if someone had cut her in a thousand different places. She didn't want to look, she didn't want to see what had become of her, it hurt so much, and everything felt so warm. She felt so sleepy, like she could just drift away and never wake up...

"Nepgear!"

Nepgear gasped loudly as her consciousness came rushing back. She rested there, gasping for breath like a drowning woman breaking the surface of an endless ocean. She wasn't screaming any more. Nepgear knew where she was. She wasn't in that horrible cavern; she was in Planeptune, in the Basilicom, in the game room. The image around her shattered and the game room rushed back, filling her vision with light and her ears with the pleasant sound of music. She wasn't fighting against a Noire driven insane by a viral infection, she was being held in the arms of her sister, the sister she loved so much. Neptune had come to save her, she was finally here. She wanted desperately to hold her like she was being held, but her broken arms wouldn't move.

"…N-Nept-tune…?" Nepgear gasped out in a hoarse voice, her pain and fear still very evident in her voice, what little she was able to put out after screaming it hoarse. Her throat was raw from screaming for… she didn't know how long, but it felt like an eternity to her.

"Nepgear!" Her sister sounded so relieved to hear her speak. "Compa! Hurry!"

"I'm coming Nep-Nep!" That was Compa, Nepgear remembered that voice with fondness, but she never remembered it being so full of worry and concern.

She sensed Compa's warmth as the normally bubbly girl knelt beside her. Nepgear could have picked Compa out of any crowd. Her presence always brought warmth and comfort with it, something that hadn't diminished even after years of war and conflict.

She was in so much pain that she didn't even notice when Compa grabbed her arm and snapped it back into place. Her nerves were almost completely numb, nothing her body could feel would even come close to the pain she felt in her soul.

Neptune pushed Nepgear away slightly, giving Compa the room she needed to wrap bandages around Nepgear. That was when Nepgear noticed it wasn't her tears that had made her sister wet. Neptune was drenched in blood.

Her blood.

Nepgear lazily glanced down at her ruined body, her mind starting to lose itself back in the haze of memories and emotions. She was transformed of course, there was no way she'd fight a viral army in her human form, and she was injured, badly. All the wounds Noire had inflicted on her were there, even the large gaping hole in her chest, the one that had taken her life. Nepgear could see Compa desperately trying to bandage the wound even as her life blood gushed from the gaping wound. It was odd that she was still alive, but maybe it wasn't, she still had her leg, although there was a deep, dark red line circling her leg where the injury should have been. She could remember Noire taking that leg from her, chiding her for being too weak to stand on her own two feet.

Nepgear was confused. She should be dead, she had died. She distinctly remembered dying…

She looked up at her sister. Neptune's eyes were filled with all sorts of emotions Nepgear wasn't used to seeing in there.

If she was still alive, she could apologize to her sister, before it was too late, "I'm sorry… Neptune… I tried… I tried to close the portal…" Neptune said brokenly in her hoarse voice, "…I… I failed… she was… too fast... she—" Neptune placed a finger on her lips.

"Don't talk, save your strength, I'm not losing my little sister!" Neptune said fiercely. She had no idea what Nepgear was talking about but the only thing that mattered right now was saving her life.

Nepgear gave her sister a smile that was two parts pain and one part joy, "Neptune…" that was all she managed to get out before she fell limp, slipping into unconsciousness.

"Compa!" Neptune shouted in a panic, her heart stopped for a brief moment thinking her sister had died. But she could feel a pulse after a moment, it was slow and weak, but it was there.

"I'm working as fast as I can, Nep-Nep!" Compa said, her own voice edged with fear and concern. She had been going to medical school to train as a nurse but she never thought she'd be thrown into this type of a situation.

Neptune held her sister as tightly as she could while giving Compa the room she needed to work, "please Nepgear, don't die on me…"

**~o~**

"I-I swear I've never done anything to her!" Noire protested, her hands held out as she pleaded with everyone gathered there, "I've never even met her before now!"

They were all there, gathered in the main room where Neptune's work desk was. All save Nepgear who was sleeping peacefully in her own room and Compa who was hovering over her like a concerned mother hen. She had all the medical supplies IF and the others could gather for her on such short notice, just in case Nepgear had another relapse.

"No one is saying you did anything," IF said from her spot by the desk. She was leaning back on it with one hand crossed across her stomach and the other one holding her head. "Gear only became Nepgear shortly before we left Planeptune for R-18 Island." This IF knew for certain, she had met the girl to deliver the crystal disc. Gear had definitely not been Nepgear at that time. "We picked you up almost immediately afterwards and have been together ever since. It's simply impossible for 'you' to have done anything to her." Even Noire didn't have the capability of flying to Planeptune from Lastation and back while they were all asleep.

"Then what happened?" Neptune asked, her voice still showing her deeply concerned she was about this entire incident. She had yet to return back to her human form, she was too anxious and afraid for her sister to do that. "That was no joke, something serious happened here."

That was an understatement. One moment Noire had been about to introduce herself and the next moment Nepgear was across the room, screaming in pain and fear. The sheer level of emotion rolling off Nepgear had been unreal, almost incomprehensible. They had all felt like someone had dragged sharp finger nails across their souls.

Noire especially, the look on her face when Nepgear had started to scream was one of utter shock and disbelief.

And then things had gotten much worse when Nepgear had transformed into that ruined version of her HDD state. IF had seen some pretty bad things in her life but she had almost emptied her stomach right then and there, and Falcom hadn't appeared to take it much better either. The only reason Compa had been able to handle it as well as she did was due to her nurse training.

"IF… can you bring up an image of that disc you gave Nepgear?" Histoire asked quietly. Her mind was rapidly processing all the information she had at her disposal as she tried to come up with a logical reason for what just happened.

"Sure, I should still have the completed quest in my log files," IF said as she brought up her status screen and went down to logs. She hadn't done many quests since then so it was still there. With a few quick taps she brought up an image of the disc she had delivered.

Histoire nodded as if coming to a conclusion, "I see, that disc is made out of Sharicite." She could easily tell that by the unique shine to the disc, "and in that format it could easily store memories."

"I was told it was worth more than Planeptune's gross domestic product and held precious memories, but I had simply waved that off as nothing. Everyone claims their item was worth many times what it actually is. I just passed it off as one more exaggeration."

"If it held the memories of the CPU Candidate, Nepgear, it would most certainly be worth more than the GDP of Planeptune," Histoire said as the pieces started to come together. It was all starting to make sense now. Nepgear's sudden appearance, unnatural strength, her familiarity with things she shouldn't be familiar with, and the sudden, violent, reaction to Noire that she should have never met before.

"What are you suggesting, Histoire," Neptune asked, suddenly afraid of the answer her Oracle had come up with, "are you saying Nepgear isn't Nepgear?"

"No, that's not quite it," Histoire said as she stared at the image intently, "if I'm correct our Nepgear is still our Nepgear, just from many years in the future."

Which meant she was still Nepgear, her little sister, that made Neptune feel a lot better about the whole thing. "So my little sister can time travel?"

"No, it's more likely that someone else did," Histoire said, correcting Neptune, "They simply stored Nepgear on that disc and used it to force the Nepgear of our time to become the Nepgear of their time."

"So we have some unknown time traveller out there?" IF asked incredulously, giving Histoire a look of disbelief. When Histoire gave a hesitant nod IF let out a long sigh, "just great, that's all we needed."

"Yes, who was it that gave you the quest? I would very much like to speak with them." Histoire asked IF, if they could track down the owner of the quest they could figure out more details about this mystery.

"I don't think that'll happen, Neptune killed him," IF said in a pained voice and shot Neptune an annoyed look.

"This Neptune's Aworing Fan?"

"Random NPC 60173, actually, but ya, he's a complete Neptune nutcase, one which Neptune killed with her stupidity." Neptune flinched. It seemed everything just circled round back to her and that mast incident. Who knew wanting to chase sparkles and stars during a raging lightning storm could have such long term impacts and implications?

Histoire let out a long sigh, "a dead end then." That made things difficult. It basically meant the only information they could get would be what Nepgear wanted to tell them.

Falcom stepped forward with a suggestion, "We could always ask Nepgear—"

"NO!" Neptune snapped, interrupting Falcom harshly, "I'm not risking another relapse just to satisfy your curiosity!"

"A-Atleast it wasn't my fault, I would never do such a thing!" Sure she had fought Neptune in the very earliest of days of the console war but even then, even at the height of the conflict between the four nations, never once did Noire consider torturing someone, because that was the only way to describe what had been done to Nepgear's body.

Noire prided herself on being better than that. She killed with grace, speed, and elegance. She didn't 'toy' with people, that was barbaric and crude and definitely not her. That was more Blanc's style. Noire would never let herself sink to that level.

"It… wasn't your fault then… either…" Nepgear said in a hoarse whisper as she slowly entered the room, she was leaning heavily on Compa's shoulder, barely having the strength necessary to speak let alone stand and walk.

"Nepgear! You should be resting!" Neptune said as she hurried to her sister's side and supported her other side.

"I agree with Neptune, you must go back to your bed young lady," Histoire said sternly. The small oracle of Planeptune gave Compa a disapproving look, "I would have thought better of you Compa."

"She insisted, Histy," Compa said, "she said it was very important."

Nepgear let out a small laugh and winced as the laughter caused pain to lance across her body. She looked up at Histoire and smiled, "I missed you and your scolding's Histoire… ever since you were assassinated…"

That single statement made their blood run cold. Histoire especially, a cold fear gripped her heart.

"T-That wasn't me either! So don't get any weird ideas!" Noire protested heatedly before anyone could even begin to accuse her.

"We never… found out who…" Nepgear whispered but she gave Noire a reassuring look, "but you weren't anywhere near Planeptune when it happened, I know it wasn't you. You were saving…" she wanted to say Uni but she was forced to cut short and fight down a sudden surge of pain in her leg. Phantom pain for a leg she lost when she still had it was a very painful and awkward experience.

Noire wiped away sweat she hadn't realized she'd shed. She didn't like to think she was responsible for the death of her onl-best friend's Oracle, even if it didn't happen for who knows how long. She'd have to make sure it never happened!

"What happened?" Neptune asked. There was no need to specify what she was referring to.

"Memories, of when… Noire killed me."

As one they all looked at Noire.

"It wasn't me!" Noire protested as she backed away from their stares.

"It wasn't your fault," Nepgear said softly. She looked over at Noire and gave her a sad smile, "you had become viral. The virus that transformed monsters into viral monsters had turned you into a viral CPU."

"That shouldn't be possible, the virus doesn't affect humans the same way as it does monsters," IF said, what Nepgear described should be impossible. The way Gamindustri handled monsters and the way it handled humans was completely different.

"But… CPUs aren't entirely human, are they?" Nepgear said with a sad smile on her face, "we're… only half human. The other half of us…" she trailed off. She didn't know what the other half of them truly was. Sure, they were 'CPUs' but what did that really mean? There was a clear distinction between human and monster, but where did a CPU fit in the grand scheme? No one knew, but it was something the virus could sink its teeth into.

That was certainly a chilling thought that none of them had considered before.

Histoire bit her lip as she stared at Nepgear in surprise. Nepgear knew a lot about CPUs, more than all of the current ones combined. The four Goddesses never bothered to consider their own nature. They simply accepted it as it was. Although that said this Nepgear certainly had reason to consider it. Histoire would have to start working with the R&amp;D division more closely to see if they could come up with some preventative measure.

In the meantime however, she needed to change the topic. She did NOT want ANY of the CPUs to begin questioning their own existence. That would cause a headache she didn't want to deal with.

Histoire did not want to have to replace Neptune and start over again.

"I think that's quite enough, Nepgear," Histoire said as she turned on her lecturer voice, "you need to rest. I need you in tip top shape as soon as possible to help keep Neptune in line!"

"I'm right here you know," Neptune said to Histoire in a dry voice.

"I know."

"Let's go, Ge-Ge, back to bed with you," Compa said as she turned Nepgear around with Neptune's help.

Nepgear didn't complain as she was taken back to her room. She had said what she wanted to say, she didn't want Noire to blame herself or think she was responsible for her action. It wasn't her fault, so long as they found a way to counter-act the virus before it could adapt to their HDD transformation, the tragedy Nepgear had experienced would be averted.

"We need… to find a way to inoculate against…"

"Don't worry Ge-Ge, I won't let you or Nep-Nep get infected!" Compa said with a brilliant smile on her face. "I'll just inject you until you're all better!"

"Do you have a smaller syringe?" Neptune asked with a quirk of her lips. She did not look forward to being jabbed with that enormous syringe that Compa always carried around, and usually had filled with deadly toxins.

Compa looked over at Neptune and gave her a curious look, "why would I need a smaller one? Silly Nep-Nep, a smaller one wouldn't be as effective against monsters."

"To vaccinate us?"

"Oh Nep-Nep, don't be silly," Compa said with a laugh, and for a brief moment relief washed over Nepgear and Neptune. Then Compa spoke again, "it wouldn't be as effective if it was smaller!"

"How would you even inject that in us?"

Compa gave Neptune a look like she was completely stupid, "Nep-Nep, that's easy, you should know the answer to that already!"

"I'm afraid I don't," she was also afraid to find out as well. She really didn't want to know what crazy ideas Compa had.

"Us girls already have plenty of ready-made holes to use for injection! I'll just keep injecting until I find the proper hole!"

Yep, Neptune wished she'd never found out.


	10. Encroaching Darkness

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hyperdimension Neptunia. All characters, thoughts and ideas that exist in this story that were taken from the original works belong to their creators, Compile Heart and Idea Factory. Only original thoughts and or characters created in this story are my own.**

**Chapter 10: Encroaching Darkness**

Chika entered Vert's office, carrying in one hand a tray of food, and in the other a handful of documents and reports, "I brought you lunch, Lady Vert," Chika said as she softly padded across the carpeted floor and set the tray down on the desk, just behind the six monitors Vert had set up around her.

"What do you have for me, Chika?" Vert asked as her hands danced across the keyboard, she was flipping through various electronic reports filed over night on the right two monitors. The left two monitors were connected to the MMORPG, Four Goddesses Online where she was leading a raid against a boss monster. The keyboard and mouse placed under the table was used to control her in-game character. She had trained hard to be able to use a mouse and keyboard with her feet just as adeptly as she could her hands.

The central two monitors were something else entirely. The top one was a video feed of a training room Vert had set up for Xone. The little girl was currently there now working on perfecting her new techniques with her fancy tri-pronged kunai. Vert had given her the blueprints for a third type of projectile, a shuriken. Vert was pleased to see that she was practicing hard with those as well.

She'd be there with her, working on their teamwork, but she had something more important to look for. Vert noticed that Xone wasn't dressed in any of the 'outfits' Chika had sewn up for her, not surprising either all things considered. She noted however, with some pride, that the special formula Xone had been drinking was kicking in spectacularly. Vert had suspected that Xone's growth had been stunted by lack of nutrients, those borderland towns were never meant to support a super unique character, and now that it had the proper nutrients her body was obviously trying to make up for lost time.

At the rate she was growing, given a few months she'd easily eclipse Noire in her normal form, provided she didn't reach her peak before then. The formula encouraged natural growth, it didn't perform miracles.

The final screen bottom middle screen, was connected to a spy drone she had scouring the country-side. It could see and detect multiple frequencies of light and energy and Vert hoped. So far it hadn't turned up anything of interest but she still maintained hope. More were planned but just building that one drone had been prohibitively expensive.

Chika gave her Goddess a smile. "Well, first off there's the Earl Grey tea with two teaspoons of sugar, half a teaspoon of milk and some biscuits. There is also a soup with—"

"I meant information," Vert interrupted and pointed to the small set of documents in Chika's her hands. Chika could go on forever describing every single spice and ingredient she had added to Vert's meal.

Chika was unperturbed by the interruption as she looked down at the reports in her hands, "I found some things I felt you might be interested in," she started as she placed the first report on Vert's desk, just beside the tray of food. "The CPU of Lastation paid that good for nothing in Planeptune a visit. Something about 'further developing and enhancing relationship between neighbours', but we're quite certain she just wanted to get more information on this Nepgear that has taken Gamindustri, and Planeptune in particular, by storm."

"I expected Noire to do something like that," Vert said. She wasn't particularly concerned by the report. She had seen all that she needed to see.

"Yes, according to the report she didn't stay very long, she should be back in Lastation soon."

Vert nodded and signaled Chika to move onto the next report. The movements of her fellow CPU over in Lastation wasn't something she was particularly concerned about. However this boss she was fighting was rather annoying.

"Move up and group together!" Vert snapped into the microphone on her head, "mitigate the damage!" There was a bright flash on her left monitor as a massive boss attack hit her party, "spread out, quickly, get those HoT's flowing. Damage dealers, I want more DoTs, more DoTs! Off-tanks, pick up those adds! Keep them off the healers!"

Chika thumbed the second report in her hands, "the next report is something from Lowee, the CPU of Lowee has been seen wandering the city for some reason. It seemed particularly odd to me so I thought I should mention it." This report would normally have been nothing but Blanc was a notable shut-in and was rarely seen outside her room, let alone the Basilicom. It was strange for her to be seen out in the city every day for the past week. The only difference between her and Neptune was the fact that Blanc actually spent most of her time working in her room, instead of Neptune who spent most of her time simply gaming.

"That is odd," Vert agreed with her Oracle, "but not enough to go on, have our spies in Lowee tail her and see what she is up to, keep me notified if she does anything else—Don't stand in the fire! How many times do I need to tell you? I don't care if it's green and reminds you of your mother's beard, anything glowing is bad! That's raiding basics 101!"

Chika set that report down on top of the previous one and skimmed over the next one. "There have been reports of suspicious individuals landing at a remote beach along the coast this morning. Or rather, 'a' report, as no one I've sent to corroborate the report has returned."

"Strange, send patrol ships to search the waters in the reported area."

"I did, they're at the bottom of the ocean now."

Vert frowned, that made things inconvenient, and was almost important enough to draw her away from her raid, but the boss was almost dead and she wasn't giving up the phat lewts for something so trivial, "send aerial reconnaissance that way. Keep it high so that it can evade any incoming fire."

"Consider it done, but there's something else," Chika said as she placed the third report down on the table and held up the fourth, and last, report. "We got another report from that same area yesterday. There was a rather unique and distinct glow coming from some long ancient ruins on a cliff side overlooking the coast in the area."

"Glowing ruins, how cliché," Vert murmured. Her eyes narrowed as the enrage timer on the boss kicked in, "everyone, full DPS on the boss now, that means you too healers, bite its ankles if you have to! Every point of damage counts!" Vert snapped over the microphone. The boss only had five percent health left, but it was close to the enrage timer. They could do this!

"Well, that's the thing, when we compared the glow and energy readings coming from the ruins, well, it was almost an identical match to the Sharicite crystal that made you into a CPU," Chika said as she slid the report across the desk so that it rested between Vert's keyboard and mouse.

Vert was out of her chair and across the room in an instant, "cancel all my meetings for today, Chika, and handle things while I'm gone. Xone and I have somewhere we need to be."

"Yes Lady Vert," Chika said respectfully and bowed low to her Goddess.

Vert didn't even wait for Chika's response, already knowing what it would be. She was long gone by the time Chika finished speaking. She even missed collecting the loot after the boss fight and the cheers over her headset.

**~o~**

The 'Great' Ancient Ruins was a rather small outdoor based dungeon situated on the edge of the cliff overlooking the straight that separated Leanbox from the mainland. It was filled with large, ruined buildings, broken walkways, and crumbling statues. The ruins pre-dated Leanbox and some said that they pre-dated any of the current nations, although no one really bothered to date the place to check for sure.

The place had been picked clean so many times over the years that any treasures, hidden or otherwise, had already long been found. The monster levels were quite low, befitting of a newbie zone. This, however, only added to the mystery that no one really cared about since all the surrounding zones were twenty levels higher and no one low enough to even benefit from the experience here could reach it safely.

Regardless it was picturesque in its own way, if one liked exploring collapsed buildings, rotting walkways, broken tables, statues with bronze nameplates worn down to illegibility due to the passage of time, and more hazards than you could shake a stick at.

All of that was why Vert hadn't even bothered to check this place in her search. It was a pain to get to, a pain to explore, and had already been picked over so many times anything hidden should have already been found.

Evidently not however as Vert felt the telltale presence of a Sharicite crystal the moment she stepped into the zone. It was very faint, but as a CPU she was naturally attuned to the sensation. She was even more in tune with this one in particular since it was so similar to her own.

Xone walked beside Vert, dressed as she was always was. With her long revealing duo-black dress that was split down the center both above and below the waist. The young, platinum-haired girl touched her chest, she was starting to fill out now and that was making her dress a little tight. She was already larger than Neptune in her normal form, so that was something to boast about, although she was a long way from matching Vert.

The young girl slid her hand under her dress and gripped the end of one her kunai. She needed to keep a sharp eye on her surroundings to make sure nothing ambushed them. She naturally came with pre-emptive strike so as long as she maintained her awareness their group couldn't be ambushed.

Her senses picked something up. Her hand flick, a kunai hurtled through the air, around a corner, up some stairs, and stabbed a monster between the eyes. "…weak," Xone noted as a victory screen popped up around the two of them displaying their spoils of combat. "…worthless." The numbers of the victory screen were less than impressive. And what spoils they did get were better off just dumped on the ground. They weren't worth the inventory space they took up.

"My, it appears that the monsters here are rather weak. They'll probably just run from us if we get too close. Don't waste your time on them, we're here for a different reason," Vert said, resting a gentle hand on the shoulder of her companion.

"…yes," Xone nodded and held her hand up. The thrown kunai returned instantly and she slipped it back into its place beneath her dress.

The two continued on through the ruin dungeon in silence. Vert led the way, keeping an eye on their footing as they crossed crumbling bridges and path walks, while she followed the source of that unique energy she sensed. Xone followed closely behind keeping an eye out on the monsters, but like Vert said no monster ever came up to them, and those they approached fled on sight.

The two of them were simply too high a level for any of the monsters here to even want to consider fighting them.

That meant the only things left that were a danger were any left-over traps, which were usually already tripped by earlier excursions into these ruins, or the broken, crumbling ruin itself which looked as if it would fall apart if someone sneezed too hard.

Just to emphasise that point, as the two of them were walking over a narrow ledge that hung over a yawning chasm, Xone couldn't help but poke the wall with her kunai.

Half the wall subsequently fell inwards with a thunderous crash, startling the two girls.

"What happened?" Vert demanded as she whirled around to face her companion, holding a hand to her breast as she calmed her rapidly beating her. Her eyes darted across the landscape looking for the cause of the sound.

"…wall fell?" Xone said as she pointed at the collapsed wall. She made sure to hide her kunai quickly inside her dress before Vert was able to notice it.

"Are you alright?" Vert asked in concern.

Xone nodded and looked inside the new opening she had unknowingly created. "…hidden room?"

"Well, it's not in the right direction but…" Vert's lips twitched, as she tried to fight down a smile, "we can't just leave it. Hidden rooms must be explored the moment they're found, its standard RPG protocol." The CPU of Leanbox quickly hoped over the remains of the wall and headed into the newly discovered room.

Xone let out a quiet sigh of relief, glad that her curiosity hadn't caused any problems. She'd have to be more careful of what she poked in the future, at least when it came to crumbling ruins that could to fall apart at a moment's notice.

The young girl followed Vert into the room, vaulting over the remains of the wall, and walked up to her CPU that was standing in the center of the room. She was staring up at something with a thoughtful expression on her face.

She pulled out a torch and two kunai. She hit the kunai off each other and used the subsequent sparks to light the torch. Holding the now bright light source up to see Xone couldn't help but be startled by what she found.

Her CPU was staring up at a statue of a beautiful women carved from marble. Her features, her proportions, her everything were absolutely perfect. Whether or not it was an accurate rendition of whatever individual they were trying to capture, Xone didn't know, but the statue was breathtaking. At the base of the statue was a large altar that seemed very much out of place, it seemed like a later addition to the room as it didn't match the beautiful statue, or the marble floor that still looked perfectly clean and pristine, even eons after it was created.

In fact the altar looked rather hideous. It was carved out of black obsidian with an odd indentation in it. Four drainage channels had been carved into it, one on each side of the altar, that, went down to the floor and followed yet more channels to four different round pools that appeared to have been carved into the pristine marble floor.

Realization hit Xone like a ton of bricks. That was no altar of worship, or perhaps it was. It was a sacrificial altar. People had been sacrificed on it and those channels were meant to drain blood away from the broken body. She swallowed hard as she realized that size of the indentation in the altar wouldn't allow for anyone but children to rest comfortably on it.

"…this is…" Xone didn't want to say it.

"Not a very nice place," Vert finished for her as she looked around the room. "It seems this room was once a place of worship towards the true goddess, the first goddess. But somewhere along the way, it got perverted into… this," she said, waving her hand around the room.

The walls were covered in an enormous mural. In the four ordinal directions, northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest, were images of four distinct individuals; books with cute little girls floating above them. Vert instantly recognized one of them as Histoire, the Oracle of Planeptune, but she didn't recognize any of the others. Beneath them were the masses, their hands stretch up towards them accepting the offerings and blessings of the Oracles that served the one true goddess. They looked happy and thankful.

However additions had been added to the wall later. In each of the cardinal directions was something else. Hideous monsters set to prey upon the books, huge, vicious talons and fangs outstretched to devour them. Beneath these monsters the people looked happy and joyful as well, but instead of stretching their hands up to take the offerings provided to them from the Oracles, they were taking it from each other, usually through brutal force and violence, sometimes through manipulation and deceit.

Only one 'monster' was missing, the part of the wall Xone had knocked in had destroyed whatever the fourth monster had been, it would have also been the one that was set to pounce upon and devour Histoire.

What little they could decipher from what was left of the wall made this monster seem different from the rest. The bottom of the mural was still intact so they could see how the masses reacted to the monster.

And that image made Vert really nervous out of the four monster murals. The masses looked happy, they looked joyful, they were helping each other, caring for one another. Of all the murals they looked the most independent, the most selfless. However there were two things wrong with the picture, they were doing all that, to serve the monster above them.

And every last one of them looked viral.

However the image that truly scared Vert was the image above the statue of the true goddess. Painted to look as if it was coming out of the wall a massive hideous monster thing with countless bladed appendages was descending upon the statue. When one looked straight on at the statue it looked as if the Goddess was about to be torn to shreds from all directions.

"…I don't like this place…" Xone said in a tense and nervous voice, her eyes darted around the room, chasing shadows. There was something very wrong and evil about this room. Despite being eons old, it still felt evil.

"You're right, we should go, this isn't what we're here for," Vert said as she turned away from the statue of the true goddess. She nudged Xone with her fingers, urging her on. Xone didn't need any more encouragement than that. The young platinum haired girl was over the wall and back outside almost instantly and a moment later Vert joined her. The two continued on through the ruins without taking another look back at the dark, evil room.

If they had, they might have noticed three individuals make their way into the room.

The smallest of the arrivals looked like a small grey rat with a heart shaped tail. He had a large red and yellow heart on his chest and unlike others of his kind, walked on two feet instead of all four.

The second individual was the sole female of the group. She was a pasty-skinned, gothic looking clown, middle-aged woman that seemed to enjoy exposing far too much skin someone her age, or with her looks, should be allowed to.

The final individual was an enormous robot like machine that could barely fit through the hallway leading up into the room. He was all dark and evil looking, with brilliant cyan lights used to emphasis his dark outlines. He had enormous legs, a skull pasted to his crotch, a dark creepy helm, jagged horns that looked as if they were ripped straight from Diablo himself, and a pair of skeletal wings held together by what appeared to be a glowing directional pad.

"This is the room, chuu!" Pirachu said as he looked around the place of worship. "What a creepy room. This place sucks, chuu."

"Oh stop complaining and find the damn switch," Arfoire snapped as she kicked the mouse in the back of the head.

"WHAA!" Pirachu screamed as he hurtled through the air, bounced off the statue, slammed into the ceiling, shot across the room, ricocheted of the wall and then tumbled into the indentation on the altar. The grey mouse quickly recovered and glared at Arfoire, "What do you think you are doing you saggy middle-aged whore?! Don't you know I'm the third greatest mouse in Gamindustri, chuu! You should pay me more respect, chuu!"

"A rat is a rat, now find the damn switch," Arfoire snapped back.

"Enough with this search! Just let me smash everything!" The massive robot roared as he swung his enormous battle-axe-mace around wildly.

"Stop that, we were given direct orders to retrieve the Sharicite Crystal intact, you don't want to upset _him_ do you?" Arfoire snapped back at the massive robot. She didn't give two shits about the ruins and wouldn't care if CFW Judge went wild in here destroying everything, but she did NOT want the ruins to come down on HER head and she wasn't going to let herself be… toyed with by that monster because they accidentally destroyed the crystal.

Ever since news of Nepgear's arrival reached their ears, the 'boss' had been in a foul mood. Despite destroying the Sharicite Shard of Planeptune, Nepgear still arose. So until they knew _how_ that happened they weren't to destroy the shards, but instead gather them up and hide them.

There was always the possibility that destroying the crystal had released its energy and it had sought out the proper Candidate instead of simply dissipating into thin air. Their boss didn't want that to happen a second time.

"I'll kill him too! I'll kill everyone!"

"He'd turn you inside out in five seconds flat, then he'd turn what's left of you into a bunch of serving trays," Pirachu said as he stood up on the altar. He paused and looked at one of the murals on the wall curiously. "Hey, doesn't that picture look like our boss?" Pirachu asked as he pointed at the image of a hideous, monstrous creature trying to consume one of the Oracles.

The Oracle in question wasn't the same as the one for Planeptune. While she had blonde hair, all the Oracles had blonde hair, the book was a different color, being a deep red, and was oval instead of square. The oracle also had green and white wings and appeared to be slightly overweight.

Arfoire followed the rats hand and eyed the picture carefully, "in a way, our boss isn't as ugly, but it's close. And that looks like the Oracle of Planeptune," Arfoire said as she pointed at a mural to Pirachu's right.

Pirachu saw the resemblance as well. "Damn this place is creepy," Pirachu said as He quickly looked around for the switch, a shiver worked its way down his spine all the while. He did not like this place at all.

"Let's just smash it!" CFW Judge shouted as he brought his hammer down on the floor of the room.

"No you idiot!" Arfoire snapped at huge idiotic machine, but it was too late. The floor fractured and broke apart. A deep, dark chute opened up beneath Arfoire and CFW Judge. They weren't given any time to react and fell into the newly opened entrance to the depths of the ruins.

"I'm going to kill youuuuuu!" Arfoire's voiced howled up from the depths.

"MUWAHAHAH! This is much quicker!" CFW Judge's loud booming voice echoed up afterwards.

"I think I'll look for the secret entrance," Pirachu muttered to himself as he eyed the deep chasm in the middle of the room. Countless obscenities were still flowing up from within its dark depths. There was no way he was going to throw himself down that deep pit, he'd let CFW Judge be her punching bag until she calmed down. Besides he wasn't too worried about them. CFW Judge would survive because he was too stupid to admit he was dead and Arfoire always managed to survive, no matter how many times she was beaten or knocked down.

"Here it is!" Pirachu said happily as he found a small indentation at the base of the statue. He clicked the button and the statue shifted to the side, displaying a set of stairs leading further down into the ruins, "time to find that Sharicite Shard."

He didn't know how their 'boss' knew that there would be a shard here, or about the secret passages that existed herein, but he knew better than to try and question him. He didn't rise to be the third most popular rat in rat society by being stupid!

**~o~**

Xone paused and glanced back the way they had come, "…hear something?" Xone asked her CPU curiously.

"These are old ruins, the wind howls through here and makes odd noises at times, just ignore it," Vert said, brushing away Xone's concerns. Although this place did appear to have very good acoustics. Vert could have sworn she heard someone screaming obscenities.

Xone shrugged, "…alright," she said as she accepted Vert's explanation. She hadn't sensed anyone following them so it was probably nothing.

**x~X~x**

DING-A-LING

A chime on the door to the bookstore went off as Blanc exited it with a light smile on her face as she tried to keep her excitement down. In her hand was a new book that had just come out that she wanted to read. Supposedly a rendition of herself, a different version of her, was in it. The book took place in a completely different universe and was filled with lots of intrigue and interesting characters. Multiple universes were mashed into a single universe in a very compelling, if sometimes random and nonsensical, way.

It was called The Ninth… Blanc shook her head and frowned at herself. This wasn't what she was out here for. She was here to look for that special someone that will let her catch up to Planeptune. Lowee, and even her own life, was at risk if she didn't succeed. She tucked the story away into her inventory and looked around the street.

Nothing.

She tucked the book away and returned her attention to the streets around her. There were plenty of people wandering the streets at this time, but none that she'd considered for the position of CPU Candidate.

She started down the street, picking her destination at random. One direction was as good as another. Mina seemed to have little success in helping her find what she was looking for, which was odd since Mina knew every young girl and boy in Lowee on a first name basis. The fact that Mina couldn't find anything worried Blanc a great deal, but she wouldn't quit. Her people and her nation depended on her.

Blanc didn't pay much attention to where she was going, she'd walked these streets for four centuries, she could be led blind folded into any section of the city, spun a hundred times, and still find her way back without even thinking about it. Instead she focused more on the people.

The mental institution had been her first stop during the search. There had been reports about attacks on young girls. The girls had been left a wreck afterwards, few could look people in the face anymore, and those that could had a lust filled expression that looked very out of place on someone that young. There wasn't much Blanc could do for the little girls stuck in that place, but she was relieved that none of them had been the ones Blanc had been looking for.

There would definitely be justice to mete out once she found her little sisters. She'd hunt down the pervert and send him flying into next week.

One thing that did bother Blanc a lot, however, was the lack of children running in the streets. It wasn't even two months ago one couldn't walk down the street without seeing at least a dozen groups of children playing happily together.

Now the only children you could see were the ones hiding behind their mother's skirts. No one was playing in the streets anymore. Blanc's frown deepened as she noticed the looks of discontent being thrown her way as she walked down the streets. The people really had lost faith in her, and not just because of the rise of Nepgear over in Planeptune.

If she didn't find her little sisters today she was going to have to change her strategy.

**~o~**

The torch light flickered fitfully in its scorn as a shadowy figure silently passed beneath it. The dungeons beneath Lowee's Basilicom were damp and dank. It was a disgusting fetid place that never saw the light of the sun, or even a good cleaning. It hadn't always been like this, but ever since Mina had been replaced the dungeon become far more chilling and evil. And unlike the past, it housed prisoners now, mainly people that looked at 'Mina' the wrong way, or were too loyal to Blanc to be turned.

Of course, for the shadowy individual that was silently making his way through the dungeon, this place seemed almost bright and cheery compared to his former home. He could still see insects and bugs moving around under the light of the torches, back home they'd be too scared to ever move out into the light. A fear that had been ingrained in to them over generations of nightmares.

The shadowy figure had one destination, a large, wrought iron door, chained and sealed tightly against intrusion, set at the deepest part of the dungeon.

As he turned the last corner, the door came into sight. There weren't any guards at the door, there wasn't any need. The locks and seals on it were enough. It was impossible to get through it without the proper key. Plus there were patrols all throughout the dungeon and four strong guards at the entrance.

Of course the dungeon had never been designed to keep _him_ out.

He stopped as he reached the large doors. He raised a shadowy grey hand to the door and laid it gently against the large seal in the center. Dark gold writing surged across his grey outline, up his arm, and embedded itself into the door.

"Rewrite," he whispered softly.

The grey door flashed a malevolent gold-black color and changed from a dark, wrought iron door, to a set of gauze curtains. He brushed the curtains aside and entered the dark chamber beyond. He snapped his fingers and the dark, empty scorns on the walls of the room were suddenly filled with new torches that lit up and spilling warm light throughout the room.

In the very center of the room, dangling from the ceiling, was the tortured form of Mina, the Oracle of Lowee. What had been done to her was too horrible for words to describe, but the large pool of feces, piss, blood, and other fluids, on the floor beneath her was testament enough to her suffering.

Amazingly enough, she was still alive. Although whether that was a good thing or not was debatable. Living in that state was not very enjoyable, he'd been in her shoes a few times before, although he counted those amongst the happier times of his childhood.

The sudden rush of light woke Mina up. The cyan haired woman coughed and choked as she struggled to push away the haze of sleep. Her stomach heaved and a viscous mass of phlegm and vomit was coughed up. The disgusting fluid ran down her chin and dripped onto her body where it joined the other dried streams of bodily fluid that soiled her body.

The shadowy slowly made his way up to the bound woman, heedless to the mess he waded through on the floor. It almost smelled pleasant compared to some of the things he had smelt over the years. It was a nice aroma of chemicals and bodily fluids, far better than the pools of liquid suffering and rot he remembered from his childhood.

The shadowy figure smiled up at her, "Good morning, Mina," he said.

Mina's eyes narrowed suspiciously as they focused on him. He could easily tell what was going on in her head, her face screamed distrust and suspicion. She obviously thought that he was here to torture her as well. There was a fire in her still. She hadn't been broken despite everything that had been done to her.

"I won't say anything!" Mina snarled fiercely.

"Hi, I'm Random NPC 60173," he said cheerfully, ignoring her words.

"You're no random NPC!" It was impossible for him to be a random NPC. A random NPC couldn't get in here, wouldn't be so nonchalant about her situation. A random NPC couldn't turn those wrought iron doors into a pair of gauze curtains.

He laid a gentle hand on her dirty stomach and beamed a smile up at her, "I know, but it's a good enough disguise for now."

"I don't know what you're planning but I won't give in!"

Random NPC 60173 just shook his head and let out a quiet laugh, "I don't need you to do anything," he said and pushed his hand into her body. His fingers coiled around her inventory like a snake coiling around its prey.

"KYAH!" Mina cried out in pain and surprise. She could feel his hand digging around inside her, probing, searching. Real fear etched upon her face as she realized what it was he was looking for.

"Hmm, you're locked down tighter than Fort Knox," he said and gave her an approving look, "not bad, but unfortunately for you, not good enough."

Mina's eyes widened in horror as streams of gold code surged across the man's grey outline, up his arms, and into her body. Her body jerked and spasm as the foreign code entered her. It smashed through her barriers, rewrote her security features, and opened wide her everything to him. And then he found the one thing she had hid more securely than anything else: The orphanage records.

The records of all the children, their locations, and background information. The very thing she had been tortured for. The item that she had endured so much to protect.

"NOOO!"

He pulled it from her inventory, the memory disc with all the information about the little children and with it a spare pair of her red-rimmed glasses.

"You can't! They're just children! Please…"

He ignored her pleas as he tucked the disc away inside his own inventory, another thing a random NPC wouldn't have. He turned her glasses over in his hands, giving it a once over to make sure it was indeed the exact same as the glasses Mina normally wore, and then promptly fractured the left lens.

"W-What are you doing…"

He wiped the glasses on her soil body, making sure to smear it well in her blood, before he tucked that away in his inventory as well.

"Well, that's all I needed you for. Farewell, Mina," the random NPC said as he gave her a cheerful wave and skipped out of the room, whistling a merry tune. The satin curtains disappeared and the wrought iron door came back as he left the room. The torches, too, went out, dumping Mina back into pitch darkness.

She could do nothing more than hang there, wallowing in her failure to protect the children of Lowee.

If they came for her again, she would break. She wouldn't have the will to resist, now that she had nothing left to fight for.

**x~X~x**

"…stronger," Xone murmured as she watched her tri-pronged kunai hit a large monster in the chest. A moment later a dozen kunai punched a hole through the center of it, causing the entire monster to explode in a shower of pixels.

"It seems that no one has ever been down here before," Vert replied as she pulled her spear out of another monster and watched it disappear in a shower of pixels. "These monsters are definitely worth grinding for the average adventurer, but not for us, we're much too strong for these monsters." They were useful to get a basic warm-up going though, just in case they did encounter something a bit more significant

Xone nodded and glanced up as the victory dialog window appeared before them. They were definitely getting significantly more experience than that single monster had given them at the ruins entrance. Many more credits too, and some of the drops were actually worth keeping. While the monsters on the surface ranged from levels five to ten, the ones down here were easily thirty five plus.

They still weren't worth grinding for Xone and Vert though. Xone was level sixty-three and Vert was level seventy, all thanks to the massive boost that the Leviathan Mk-1 out in the ocean had provided.

"…almost there?" Xone asked quietly as she tucked her weapons away beneath her dress. It wasn't that she was impatient and wanted the dungeon crawl to end, she was just honestly curious.

They'd been underground for some time now. There was an enormous stone labyrinth hidden beneath the ruins that no one had explored. They'd opened quite a few treasure chests since coming down here, although they hadn't found anything too out of the ordinary. It WAS weird to find a Nep Bull EX down here. Xone didn't even want to really contemplate how something more advanced than anything currently in production today found its way down in the depths of an unexplored ruin older than any of the current civilizations. The worst thing was, that the item was too high a level for either of them to use.

Which was even stranger since items these days didn't come with level restrictions.

"Yes, we are, it's just behind this door," Vert said as she walked up to a large double door made out of solid granite slabs. They were deep underground now, and while the walls were still manmade, they carried that damp earthen smell that most underground places carried.

The entrance to this never before explored underground labyrinth had been hidden beneath some stone floor tiles. It was as if someone had deliberately sealed it up so that no one could find it. But Vert, with her attunement to the Sharicite Shard, had been able to find it readily enough.

And now it was in the next room, the secret to obtaining her own little sister, her own CPU Candidate to match Planeptune's.

With a victorious smirk on her face she pushed the doors open and boldly strolled into the room beyond to retrieve the prize she had travelled out here to collect.

The smile left her face, she wasn't the first one to enter the room.

"So you three are the intruders that illegally entered my land," Vert said in annoyance as she stared across the room at the three people that were gathered around a pedestal. On the pedestal was a green crystal with bands of black and silver streaking through it. It was a Sharicite crystal that glowed with pure share energy.

"Oh look, the pathetic goddess of Leanbox has decided to show up," Arfoire said with a confident smirk of her face. She stepped towards Vert and leered at her, looking for all the world like she was the better person. The look was somewhat spoiled however by the numerous scrapes and bruises on her body, "I must say, I am surprised you could pull yourself away from your games long enough to come out here." The evil super villain let out a long cackling laugh.

"Can I smash her? I wanna break her into tiny pieces!" CFW Judge shouted as he stared eagerly at Vert. He literally quivered with excitement, overjoyed by the prospect of finally being able to smash something into pieces.

"The boss never said anything about CPUs," Pirachu said as he ignored Vert and Xone, his eyes were on the prize: The Sharicite on the pedestal too high for him to easily reach.

Vert glowed green for a brief moment as she activated her HDD transformation. As the transformation ended she held out her hands and summoned her enormous spear. She pointed it at Arfoire, her eyes narrowing, "step away from the crystal, it belongs to Leanbox, and that means me."

"Humph, as if a pathetic CPU that does nothing but play games all day can make _me_, the great Arfoire, do anything."

"LEMME AT HER!" CFW Judge roared in excitement.

"It seems words are useless against mongrels who don't know their place," Vert said contemptuously. "Xone, back me up," she said and she launched herself across the room, closing the distance between the villains and herself in an instant.

But as fast as Vert was, Xone was even faster. A smile crossed Vert's face as a dozen kunai hurtled past her towards the pasty-face hag that insulted her.

"SMASH!" CFW Judge roared as he slammed his huge hammer into the oncoming kunai, destroying half of them and scattering the rest. Faster than one would expect from someone so huge, CFW Judge altered the direction of his swing towards Vert.

Vert, however, was a veteran of many wars, and countless RPG game battles. She knew just how to deal with this situation. The fact that she could fly made it even easier. She vaulted over the hammer, placing her free hand on the head of it as it passed beneath her. Her legs lashed out, the metal heels in her shoes slammed roughly into CFW Judge's face, rocking the large monster backwards from the force of the blow.

"You're open!" Arfoire cried out victoriously as she thrust her javelin at Vert, intending to skewer the goddess through the back.

Six shuriken hit her from behind, digging deeply into the soft flesh between her shoulder blades. The sudden attack caused her to miss, the javelin going wide of its target.

"Now you're open," Vert said as she thrust her lance at Arfoire from her upside down position. There was a bright flash of light as the lance slammed into a hastily raised shield. It was the only thing that saved Arfoire's life. Despite Vert's awkward position the force of the blow was still powerful enough to destroy the barrier entirely and hurl Arfoire back several meters.

"Damn it!" CFW Judge shouted and swung at Vert with his free hand. There was a resounding smack as Vert was thrown through the air by the blow. He glared at Vert angrily, upset that he had been hit, and hurt, so badly by someone who looked so weak. "I'll massacre you!" Before he could chase after the CPU however he was forced to move backwards to avoid a tri-pronged kunai and a dozen kunai that followed closely behind.

Vert righted herself in midair and halted her impromptu flight across the room. She rubbed her side a little where she had been hit. It stung a little, but it wasn't anything that would slow her down. She eyed the two villains carefully. Arfoire seemed rather weak compared to CFW Judge. Vert's attacks had thus far been more effective against her than the larger opponent.

Which meant he was the larger threat and needed to be dealt with first.

The villains had other ideas however. Before Vert could start towards the large burly metal super villain, Arfoire darted between them. "Deal with the little pipsqueak, I'll keep the goddess occupied while you squish her," Arfoire snapped at CFW Judge.

"RARGH! Time to paint the walls red!" CFW Judge roared as he charged across the room towards the young girl.

"Xone!" Vert shouted a warning as she tried to intercept CFW Judge.

"I don't think so," Arfoire crowed as she stepped between them again, "Final Boss Omega Thrust!" Arfoire shouted as she attack Vert with her Javelin.

The javelin slammed off a hastily raised shield that easily repelled the attack, but it accomplished what Arfoire wanted and bought CFW Judge enough time to close in on Xone. Being inside an underground room didn't leave Xone a lot of room to maneuver and she was forced on the defensive to stay away from her much larger opponent.

"…I'm fine," Xone said as she easily evaded the attacks sent her way. CFW Judge was stronger, powerful, durable and possessed considerable skill with his hammer. However compared to Xone, he might as well be moving in slow motion. She could keep away from him all day if need be.

"I'll be there soon, just let me deal with this annoyance first," Vert called out to Xone as pointed her lance at Arfoire. If the pasty-faced villain wanted to be the first to go, she'd have to oblige.

"Not if I kill you first," Arfoire retorted as she pointed her hand at Vert, "Oblivion Annihilation!" A massive explosion of fire and darkness consumed Vert and the space around her. Reality warped and twisted as the powerful explosion annihilated everything within its confines. "Ka ha ha ha ha ha, burn to ash you pathetic CPU!" Arfoire crowed victoriously, "bear witness to the power of someone who was the final boss in another dimension!"

A lance erupted from the explosion of fire and darkness and pierced straight through Arfoire's unprotected stomach. Arfoire doubled over and a shocked look appeared on her face as she stared uncomprehendingly at the weapon.

"You sure are confident for someone who can't put any real strength behind their attacks," Vert said as she calmly walked from the inferno, unharmed and unscathed. "Perhaps you should work on raising your magic stat first before you start bragging about how strong you are."

"B-but how! That was my ultimate attack!" Arfoire gasped out. A gout of blood gushed from her mouth as she puked up the blood that was rapidly filling her stomach.

"It could be because I'm twice your level. You're ten chapters too early to even think about beating me," Vert said and ripped her lance from Arfoire's stomach.

"Damn you! How is this… even possible!" Arfoire snarled and stumbled backwards as she tried to put some space between her and the over-leveled CPU. "When did you have time to grind that much? I never heard anything about this!"

"Let's just say I completed a special event and got a thirty level bonus for it."

"This isn't the last you've heard of me! I'll be back, I swear! I'll make you burn in hell for this insult!" Arfoire snarled as she fled the underground room, rushing back up the secret passage she had used to get down there, all the while holding a hand across her stomach to keep her innards in.

"What a cliché thing to say," Vert murmured as she let the super villain flee. Arfoire was lucky her death flag wasn't set yet otherwise Vert would have finished her off then and there. That and she needed to hurry to Xone's side before she got overwhelmed.

She turned to Xone and was about to rush to her rescue but stopped when she realized that Xone didn't need any rescuing.

"This isn't fair! Let me go so I can squash you like a bug!"

"…" Vert was speechless at what she saw before her.

CFW Judge, the massive super villain that was easily the strongest of the villains here, was tied up like a fly in a spider's web. There were almost a hundred kunai in use. Tied to the end of each was a long, thin metal wire that was stronger than steel. Each kunai was embedded into something, be it the floor, wall, ceiling or anything else within range. The wires tied to the ends of the kunai were wrapped tightly around CFW Judge, leaving the metal monstrosity suspended in midair, completely tied up and helpless.

And sitting on his shoulder without a care in the world was Xone, who was idly twirling a kunai in her left hand.

"…what do I do?" Xone asked Vert when she saw the older woman looking up at her.

A smirk crossed her lips as she floated up to her young charge, "and here I was worried about you, I should have known better. Of course someone 'I' choose… would be able to do at least this much."

"…leave him?" Xone asked as she rapped the end of the kunai off CFW Judge's skull. A loud gong sound reverberated throughout the room.

"Hey! Stop that! Get off me and let me make a flute out of your intestines!"

Xone gave him a weird look and then glanced over at her CPU, "…turn him into kunais?"

Vert smiled up at the platinum haired girl, "that sounds like a lovely idea."

"I think it sounds like a bad idea," CFW Judge threw in his two credits.

"You don't get a say in the matter, mister super villain," Vert said as she floated up to eyelevel with the monster, "I'm trying to figure out how to dispose of you, now hush."

"…spoons?" Xone asked.

"SPOONS!? I'm the most powerful villain in the world and you want to turn me into spoons! Come here where I can bite you, you little bitch!" CFW Judge roared angrily.

"Maybe some knives and forks as well, we're running low on those," Vert said, nodding her head thoughtfully as if she taking Xone's suggestion seriously. She wasn't really considering turning him into forks and knives, not completely anyways.

"I am destined for far greater things than kitchen utensils! At least turn me into a weapon of mass destruction!"

"…toy cars?"

"That could work as well, we could turn a profit that way, perhaps trains as well."

"GAH! Anything but toys! I strike fear in the hearts of my enemies! I don't bring joy to little kids!"

Vert's eyes narrowed suspiciously. Something felt off here. CFW Judge seemed to be going along with this a little too easily, "what are you up to?"

CFW Judge grinned maliciously at the green-haired CPU, "buying time for my self-destruct mechanism to go off." As if to emphasise his point his body began to glow red as if he was melting from the inside out.

All traces of humor drained away in an instant.

They needed to get out of here, now. "Xone! Let's go!" Vert shouted as she turned for the Sharicite, she wouldn't leave that behind to get destroyed…

The pedestal was empty, the crystal was gone. Vert was certain that Arfoire hadn't taken it with her when she had fled, she had been far too injured to go for it, and Vert had been watching her like a hawk.

"…mouse thing?" Xone asked as she landed in a crouch beside Vert. She wasn't sure why they had entered the ruins but the crystal was the only thing here worth anything. She had seen the mouse take it from the pedestal and run when she had been occupied covering Vert. It had been either protect her goddess, or secure the crystal, and to Xone, Vert was far more important than some unknown crystal.

A loud whine picked up behind them and the two girls suddenly had this feeling of impending doom.

"GWAHAHAHAHA!" CFW Judge roared with laughter, "you lose bitches! No sharicite and you get to die here with me today!"

"NO!" Vert cried out as she reached and grabbed Xone. She put herself between CFW Judge and her charge and shot towards the exit as quickly as she could.

She wasn't fast enough.

There was a massive explosion, one that was magnitudes greater than the explosion Arfoire had hit Vert with earlier. It consumed every particle of breathable air in the room, and expanded beyond. The ground shook and heaved and finally erupted. The ruins that had stood for eons flashed once and before it were completely consumed in an enormous destruction blast that sent a pillar of fire miles into the sky, and pieces of the ruin hurtling miles in all directions.

**x~X~x**

"How was your trip?" Kei asked as she looked up from behind No ire's desk, and over a pile of reports and documents she was filling out.

Noire gave her Oracle a hesitant smile as she stepped off the elevator onto the main floor of her level of her sanctuary. "It went alright," she said, trying to keep her voice neutral.

It had been anything but alright but she didn't want to worry Kei. The memory of Nepgear's terror stricken face, her ruined HDD form and the screaming flashed across Noire's mind causing her to flinch. She had seen soldiers come home from wars in the past, broken, scarred, but nothing like that. She hoped she never saw anything like that again. What's worse, she would supposedly cause that to happen to Nepgear in the future.

The thought did not sit well with her. Neither did the thought of turning viral. That thought scared her even more than the first. She would definitely keep that secret close to heart. If the people ever learned that their beloved CPUs could go viral and potentially turn on them? There would be complete chaos in the streets.

Nepgear was a kind hearted girl, even she could see that. Noire had stayed in Planeptune for two days, and not because she wanted to, but at Nepgear's insistence. Nepgear was terrified of Noire, but she didn't blame her. She tried her utmost to get over her fear of her, constantly forcing herself to come in contact with Noire in some way. She didn't want Noire to distance herself from Neptune on her account.

It was touching, but Noire could only take those looks for so long. Whether Nepgear made any significant improvements, Noire didn't know, but she no longer let out a scream whenever Noire suddenly appeared. She only flinched violently as if she had been struck. It was usually followed by a bout of fear-laced apologies that sounded sincere despite the heavy emotion.

Neptune helped the situation a lot. She had been in her human form the rest of the stay, constantly doing silly antics that brought laughs and smiles to everyone's faces. And more than a few embarrassing blushes to Nepgear as she was usually on the receiving end of Neptune's hijinks. It was the one thing that Neptune excelled at above all else: Making people happy.

But ultimately Noire had to say goodbye and head home. She did have a nation to run and could only put it off so long

"I see, that is good, glad that you returned safe and sound," Kei replied in an even tone that didn't betray her thoughts. She knew Noire was lying, she had known her long enough to tell that something had happened. But she wasn't going to pry, if Noire wanted to talk about it, she would be here.

"How has everything been in my absence?" Noire asked as she made her way over to her desk where Kei was sitting.

Kei gave her a short nod, "things have been well, no major incidents have been reported while you were away and our shares have remained steady at where they were. There was a rather large explosion over in Leanbox earlier today, Vert has been missing since then but I imagine that she'll turn up eventually."

"Vert always has a habit of showing up when you want her to the least," Noire said as she waved away the report like it was nothing. "She's probably doing another forty-eight hour raid."

Kei nodded in agreement but didn't say anything to refute her. She'd much rather wait until more information came in before making a judgement call. "Aside from that, nothing has changed, Nepgear's arrival hasn't affected us as much as the other nations."

"Of course! It's only natural for them to prefer me over Neptune and her little sister," Noire said with a triumphant smirk on her face. It quickly disappeared however as her eyes scanned the room for someone that didn't appear to be there, "where's Uni?"

A frown crossed Kei's face, "I don't know, I haven't seen her since you left. I've been so busy with work without her that I haven't had time to go check on her. I assume she's just sick." That was the only explanation Kei could come up with. Uni was totally devoted to Noire and wouldn't skip work for any reason baring illness or injury.

Noire placed a hand on her hips and let out a long sigh, "That girl, I swear, if she wasn't feeling well she should just tell us," she said with a slow shake of her head.

"You know how Uni is. She doesn't want to make you worried."

"Well I'm worried now, I'll go check on her," Noire said as she turned from the desk and headed back towards the elevator she came in from.

"Let Uni know the rifle she ordered has arrived, that might help her get well sooner," Kei called out after her goddess.

Noire entered the elevator and turned to face Kei, "She better work extra hard when she comes back to work!" she said and pushed the button for the ground floor.

Kei just smiled as Noire disappeared. Noire was coming a long way to so blatantly admit she was worried about Uni. It seemed the trip to Planeptune hadn't been a complete waste after all.

**~o~**

Noire grumbled as she walked up the steps towards the second floor balcony. Uni lived in a small apartment a ways away from the Basilicom. It had taken her almost two hours to find her way here. It was a two-story apartment building where the stairs were on the outside and you walked up to a long balcony that stretched the length of the front. There were five apartments on the ground level and five on the top. Attached to it, on the right side of the building, was a large three story house where the land lord lived.

Each apartment looked exactly like the other, whitewashed walls with a single door entrance and a small. The only discerning feature between each of them was a small metal plate screwed into the door at eyelevel labeling the apartment with a number.

"I'm going to make that girl move in with me, I can't have her living this far away," Noire muttered to herself stopped as she reached the door with the number 023 on the metal plate. She scowled at it and knocked firmly on the door and waited a few moments.

No one answered the door. In fact Noire didn't hear any signs of movement from behind it at all. She knocked on the door a second time, harder than before thinking that maybe she was asleep.

Still no answer.

Noire was about to bang on the door a third time when Uni's neighbour, the occupant of apartment 022, opened his door and glanced outside to see what all the commotion was about. It was a random NPC with a shadowy grey outline whose only purpose was to make a few bad jokes before being promptly forgotten. The moment his face turned to Noire he dropped to one knee and began to worship Noire.

While normally Noire would have been flattered, she wasn't here to worshipped. However the random NPC prompted her to ask, "do you know if Uni is in?" As a neighbour he would most certainly be aware of the on-goings of the apartment next to his.

"I reckon she is Lady Black Heart, she was screaming something mighty fierce a few nights back. I remember the first time I laid out a girl like that, she was bed ridden for a week afterwards, probably just the same. Whoever plowed her fields kept at it for quite some time," the random NPC said with what would have been a toothy grin had he a mouth to grin with.

Noire turned away in disgust, "Uni would never do that," at least she wouldn't do that before she did. SHE was the Goddess of Lastation and her attendants weren't allowed to get boyfriends without her say-so!

"Well, I knows whats I heard, it was getting pretty heavy near the end, coulda sworn I heard gunshots but musta just been mah imagination," the random NPC said with a shrug and went back to worshipping Noire.

Noire scowled again, gunshots! Now she was getting into cosplay as well! That was HER area of…

Wait a minute, Uni was a gun collector, she didn't cosplay…

The blood drained from Noire's face and a cold sinking feeling started to develop in the pit of her stomach. She rammed her fist through the steel door and ripped it off its hinges. She tossed the useless hunk of metal over the balcony and rushed inside.

She froze in the middle of the living room, her eyes wide, at what she saw there. The cold, sinking feeling froze and became as hard as ice. Fear gripped her heart.

The place was a wreck. No, Noire couldn't say that, it was even worse. The entire place had been torn apart. The carpet was ripped up, a couch had been thrown through the wall separating the living room from the bedroom. The coffee table was smashed into pieces and Noire could see jagged shards of blood stained wood scattered across the floor. There were huge gouges in the floor, like someone wielding an enormous sword had been swinging wildly at a small, agile target. The upper sections of the walls and the ceiling was riddled with bullets, as if Uni had been shooting up at a tall individual. There were hundreds of bullet shells all over the floor along with several empty magazines. The most disturbing thing of all was the trail of blood leading out from the bedroom and across the living room floor.

She shot across the room and into Uni's bedroom. It was just as bad in here as out in the main room. The bed had been split in half and the covers shredded to pieces, the dresser riddled with bullet holes. The door to Uni's private bathroom was blown off its hinges and there was an Uni shaped indentation in the far wall of the bathroom. That was where the source of the blood trail was. The wall beneath the indentation was stained dark black with dried blood. There was a trail of blood leading away from the base of the wall across the floor of the bathroom, through the bedroom and out into the living room.

It was easy to figure out what had happened here. Someone had attack Uni. They'd fought across her living room into her bedroom where the intruder had ultimately overpowered her. They had then dragged Uni across her apartment, only picking her up when they reached the exit.

Noire slowly walked across the bedroom and into the bathroom. She stopped just before the indentation in the wall, her fingers brushing lightly along the ridge. An image of Uni, battered, bruised, and unconscious, came unbidden to her mind, filling the hole in the wall.

"Wow, talk about some kinky sex, Uni must be a real masochist," the random NPC said as he poked his head into Uni's room.

Noire twitched violently, her teeth ground together angrily and she rounded on the random NPC with an angry scowl, "How can you joke about something like that at a time like this?!" she shouted at NPC.

"Who said I wassa joking? I'd love to get in on this—"

He never got to finished. Noire was out the bathroom and across the bedroom in an instant, flashing from her human form to her HDD form. She violently slammed a boot into the NPC's sternum and knocked him flying out of the doorway and into the living room. Noire appeared above the airborne NPC and backhanded him into the floor, cracking the floor.

Before the NPC could even react Noire had one foot on his chest, pinning him to the floor, with the edge of her sword pressed tightly against his neck. "You've got five seconds to tell me who did this before I send you to the afterlife!" Noire shouted down at the now very frightened NPC.

Uni was almost like a little sister to her, and this creep wanted to joke around about having abusive sex with her when she had obviously been assaulted, injured and kidnapped! Noire was beyond upset.

And what's more, she noticed something now that she didn't before…

"P-Please, no! I meant what I said!"

"Wrong answer!" Noire said as she raised her blade above her head, "I know you're not one of my people! I feel no faith coming from you! If you won't tell me anything I'll just end you here!" Her sword descended.

"AHHH! NO! I worship Lady Uni!"

Noire's blade stopped instantly, mere millimeters from the NPC's neck. He was quivering in fear, if he had eyes they would have been closed tightly as he waited for the end to come.

The NPC's words rang through her head like a clarion bell: Lady Uni. This NPC worshipped her assistant? Uni? But why would he? Noire was the Goddess of Lastation. Uni, while obviously very important to Noire and to Lastation as a whole, was still just a citizen. She wasn't…

An image of Nepgear standing just behind Neptune wearing a brilliant smile on her face as she looked down at her sister, flashed across Noire's mind.

The image shifted, and instead of Nepgear and Neptune, it was Uni and her…

Noire's eyes widened in shock. It had been there right in front of her all along, and she hadn't noticed. She hadn't even considered the possibility. And now Uni…

A report of attacks on little girls in Lowee flashed across her mind. The image of the platinum haired girl standing beside Vert on the injured cruise ship along with news of Vert desperately searching for something in Leanbox and Kei's mention of the explosion in Leanbox, joined the first report. An older memory surface, this time of Kei mentioned a Sharicite crystal being stolen from Planeptune.

And now Uni had just been attacked and kidnapped.

Some villainous force was trying to stop Lastation from gaining a CPU Candidate like the other nations were. Uni had been attacked while she was gone, taken and possibly worse. Why she wasn't outright killed could easily be attributed to blackmail.

Noire's focus returned to the person she had pinned to the floor, "You know something!" she snapped at the NPC. That was the only reason he was still alive, he was needed to push the plot along.

"P-Please don't kill me! H-He forced me to say those words! He came to me the day after Uni was taken away by a big gundam looking monster!"

"Explain yourself!"

"H-He likes t-to see you p-panic and s-snap!" the random NPC said in a quivering voice.

"WHO!?"

"OhhHHhhh, don't be so hard on him, my lovely Noire," an effeminate voice picked up from across the room, near the outside door.

Noire's head whipped up, her anger filled gaze finding a new target to focus on, this being a floating screen that was slowly hovering its way across the room towards her. There was nothing more than a static clad dark image in the video feed, obscuring the person almost entirely from view. All she could make out was that it was a tall robotic shaped individual. He fit the description of what the NPC said and the evidence she found in the room.

"What have you done with Uni!?" she snapped at the screen. She was going to tear him apart if he hurt her.

"Oh, yes, that look in your eyes, that fear and worry, I wonder if I can get more interesting expressions out of you!"

"I'm not scared!"

"Huhuhuhuhu, I wonder," the static clad individual said and snapped his fingers. The image changed and it showed Uni, dangling from the ceiling of what appeared to be a jail cell by one arm. The other arm dangled at her side, bent in unnatural directions. Her black dress was ruined, the left half had been torn off completely while the other side had numerous rips and tears in it. Her gloves and boots were missing entirely. She was covered in dried blood and Noire could see dozens of injuries on her person. Her breathing was slow and shallow, as if she no longer had the strength, or the capability, of breathing properly.

The image flickered back after a few seconds, but it was enough for Noire to tell that Uni didn't have a lot of time left. Without medical treatment she wouldn't last the day.

"Oh my, that's a nice expression you have on your face!" the anonymous individual said in a sing-song voice.

A grinding sound echoed across the room. Noire, her teeth clenched almost painfully, glared murderously at the person hiding behind the static, "You... You bastard! What have you done to Uni!"

"Saved her, for the moment," he said unexpectedly.

"Saved her?! She's dying!"

"And she'd already be dead if I hadn't intervened, or worse."

"How can you say that?!"

The image cleared and suddenly Noire's eyes were assaulted by a vibrant pink robot covered with neon-green lights in honeycomb shaped patterns. "Because I didn't attack Uni."

"That's the guy that forced me to say those things!" the random NPC shouted as he tried to save his own hide.

"Mmhmmm, I won't deny that!" the pink robot said as he leaned back in his chair. Noire could almost see the grin on his face despite the lack of expression on his robotic face. "But you saw who attacked Uni, did you not mister 'I have a dozen peep holes in the wall.'"

Noire glanced to the left, her sharp eyes picking up at least eight small little holes drilled between the random NPC's room and Uni's. She never would have noticed them if they hadn't been brought to her attention. The man coughed and spluttered as Noire dug her foot deeper into his chest, "who attacked Uni!"

"I-I… told you! S-Some… gundam looking robot thing or even Erde Kaiser Sigma from that Xenosaga III game!" the random NPC coughed up. It was getting increasingly more difficult to speak, what with Noire's foot pushed halfway through his grey shadowy outline and all.

The flaming pink robot already knew that the random NPC had talked, he just wanted to antagonize Noire some more. "Quite," he said as he changed the image, turning it into a split screen. On the new half of the screen there was a large, brilliant colored robot, much larger and more powerful looking than the flaming pink one. "CFW Brave, a proud and honorable villain, and one quite easy to take advantage of, working for an evil master mind by the name of Spybore, who I can assure you is anything but honorable. Not willingly, of course, but one can't really defy someone ten times their level. Hard to do much against someone who is over level five hundred."

Noire pushed aside the 'level five hundred' tidbit, she knew she had heard wrong, that level was just outrageous. What mattered however was she had names and a description, but that could all be dealt with after she saved Uni. "If you're not in league with them then hand over Uni! She needs medical attention!"

"It's true that I, the great Anonydeath, am not in league with him, but I'm not with you either. I work for myself, although if the price is right I am willing to use my skills for others. Spybore pays quite handsomely, for a rather ugly fellow, both inside and without. And for Uni… he has offered me enough technology and credits to keep me entertained for a very long time."

"You bastard! You'd sell Lastation out for credits and technology?! When I find you…"

"Ah ah ahhh…" Anonydeath said as he waggled a finger at the irate CPU. "I wouldn't take that tone with me, there are two buttons here," a panel on his chair opened up to show two different buttons, a blue one and a red one, "If I push the blue one, you get Uni's coordinates, I push the red one, and Spybore gets her coordinates."

"Argh!" Noire growled angrily. He had her in the palm of his hands and he knew it. "What does this Spybore want with Uni anyways?" she said as she moderated her tone. She had to bite back all the vitriol she wanted to shout, Uni took precedence right now.

"Uni is special, but I'm sure you're aware of that by now," Anonydeath said in a pleasant tone and an earlier memory of Uni standing behind her as the CPU Candidate of Lastation came unbidden to Noire's mind, "I don't know his ultimate plan but I do know that Uni will not survive it. CFW Brave had been ordered to kill her, the honorable man that he was could not do that. His boss, however, won't hesitate to end her life."

Noire clenched her fists so tightly blood began to leak out between her fingers. Breathing in deeply she let out a long breath and relaxed, letting her anger flow out along with her HDD form. She stared at Anonydeath, her breathing normal, her emotions controlled.

"Name you price."

She would save Uni. She wasn't going to lose her. And it seemed that there was something she had that Anonydeath wanted more than money or technology, otherwise he would have already sent the coordinates to this… Spybore.

So long as it didn't kill her, she'd endure it, to get her soon to be little sister, Lastation's future CPU Candidate, back.

"How wonderful!" Anonydeath said in a cheerful voice, "I knew you'd see reason. That's what's so amazing about you my lovely Noire. You catch on far more quickly than your fellow CPUs. As for 'what I want,' come to these coordinates." The image of CFW Brave disappeared, replaced by a set of coordinates and the picture of a large warehouse near Lastation's industrial park. "I'll meet you there. Oh, and come alone and tell no one, otherwise I might just slip and hit the red button."

Noire memorized the coordinates and the image, she knew where it was. She knew everything about Lastation.

"I'll be there."


	11. The Price One Must Pay

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hyperdimension Neptunia. All characters, thoughts and ideas that exist in this story that were taken from the original works belong to their creators, Compile Heart and Idea Factory. Only original thoughts and or characters created in this story are my own.**

**Chapter 11: The Price One Must Pay**

Noire kept an impassive look on her face, she wasn't about to give this 'Anonydeath' the satisfaction of seeing her riled up, as she walked up the path walk to the large set of double doors leading into the main area of the warehouse. The red brick path that she walked in was set in the exact median between two long warehouse extensions.

The warehouse was shaped roughly like a horseshoe with a main facility in the center, stretching north south, and two arms that stretched east from the main center. The long east stretching extensions were large, one-story structures that used to house larges crates of console hardware, before the company was bought up by another and storage was moved to a more advanced facility. The main building itself had three stories to it, and was where all the administrative work took place. The white painted concrete walls looked a dull grey, darkened by years of industrial pollution and whatever greenery had been planted on either side of the path had long since withered and died, choked by the smog.

In stark contrast to her dark mood, the sun shone high in a clear blue sky that wasn't choked by smog for once. The temperature was just right, neither too warm, nor too cold, and the few birds that lived in the area could be heard filling the air with their music. A westerly wind gently blew in, carrying with it the scent of trees and flowers, bringing relief to the smog choked air.

The CPU of Lastation stopped just before the large double doors leading inside and took one last deep breath to calm herself before she pushed the doors open and entered the building. The moment she entered the building her communication devices darkened, signalling that something was jamming their ability to send and receive.

She had passed the point of no return.

Making her way across the darkened, concrete floor, Noire headed for the central staircase that led up to the second floor. There had been additional instructions sent her way as she made her way to the warehouse, such as which stairs to take and what room to enter. She had also been instructed to inform her Oracle, Kei, that she would be gone until morning and that nothing was wrong.

She had complied, she had expected as much anyways. This Anonydeath had obviously put too much planning into this entire thing to be thwarted by the curiosity of a worried Oracle.

The second floor was made out of concrete much like the first, this warehouse didn't invest in any form of comfort. It was strictly utilitarian, and as a result seemed cold and dark. It was the perfect hideout for a criminal willing to use a dying person to coerce a CPU to do their bidding.

Noire didn't stop when she reached the designated door, it was too late for second thoughts. She opened the door and headed straight in without any introduction.

The room inside was almost as dark as the rest of the facility. The sole light in the room was provided by the dozens of computer screens that hovered in the air around various floating keyboards and just behind it all was a large server farm.

In sitting in a swivel chair in front of the entire set up was the person she had come here to see, the person who held the life of Lastation's future in his hands: Anonydeath.

"I'm here, now give me Uni's coordinates!" Noire demanded as she stopped in the middle of the room, a few meters back from the villain. She could think of no other term suitable for someone willing to sink to this level, regardless of his affiliation.

Anonydeath slowly turned to face Noire, he had one, long metal clad leg crossed over the other. His arms rested lightly on the arm rests of the chair, one hand hovered just over the two colored buttons, one of which would save Uni's life, and the other would end it.

The brightly colored villain slowly stood up. His tall, powerful form, towering over Noire and for the first Noire realized that Anonydeath wasn't just some run of the mill villain. There was real power and strength to back his intelligence and cunning. She held her ground however, and refused to show any signs of intimidation, even as her neck craned upwards so that she could keep her eyes focused on his face.

"Hm hm hmmmm…" Anonydeath let out a low, chilling chuckle. Noire prepared for the worst. "Oh! Please don't act so cold, sweetie!" the pink robot said in a high pitched voice as he began to wiggle back and forth, "just call me Anonydeath, although I'd prefer it if you called me something cute, like Anny."

Noire almost did a face plant right then and there at the sudden change in mood and atmosphere. She quickly collected her wits and pointed a finger at him, "I'm not going to call you anything but creep! Now release Uni!"

"Oh ho… is that so? Is that any way to talk to someone that holds your dear Uni's life in his hands?" Anonydeath asked, his voice going low and serious again. His finger hovered over the red button, tickling the top of it, so close that an errant sneeze would spell the end of Uni.

"No! Stop!" Noire shouted hurriedly, her finger turned into an outstretched hand begging him to stop.

"Well?"

She let her hands drop to her sides and shook in both anger and humiliation, "f-fine… A-Anny…" There was a light hint of pink on her cheeks as she forced the words out. It was humiliating to be forced to bow to the whims of this creep but she had no choice.

Anonydeath cupped his 'cheeks' in his hands and began wiggling in delight again. "Oh! Such sweet music to my ears!" He suddenly whipped out a small yellow camera and took a picture of Noire's embarrassed, blushing face, "Exclusive! You are just so cute when you're like this, much better in person."

The blush became more pronounced than before, "don't think you can distract me! You said you'd release Uni if I came here!" Noire said as she tried hard to fight down the blush.

"Yes, I did say that, however…"

"Don't you DARE go back on our deal or I'll tear you apart!"

"Oh, I wouldn't dream of that, sweetie," Anonydeath said as he began to type on the keyboard to his right without even looking. A screen moved away from the others and settled in front of Noire. "But I need to insurance that you simply won't run away after I give you Uni's coordinates."

"What insurance?!"

"Read."

Noire read over the screen in front of her. On it was an agreement, a binding one even for CPUs, that guaranteed that she would stay here, with Anonydeath, and be subjected to whatever whims he so desired until sunrise of the next day. In exchange Anonydeath would hand over to Noire the coordinates of Uni's whereabouts.

There were two things missing from it that prevented her from immediately agreeing to it.

"Uni needs medical treatment, if I stay here until morning, she'll die, and what guarantee do I have that you won't kill me if I agree to whatever your whims are?" If she accepted this agreement she would almost certainly be forced to go through with whatever was written there, even if she didn't like what it was being asked of her. She didn't know how someone like him could get a hold of a contract like this, usually only the CPUs could create these types of agreements, and only in respect to their own citizens.

"Kill you? Oh my dear, lovely Noire, I would never dream of such a thing. You're far too cute and fun to tease to get rid of. I plan to watch you for many years to come!"

She had to bite back a retort. There were so many things wrong with those words that she didn't even know where to begin, but at the same time she wasn't in a position to snap back at him. If only Uni wasn't held hostage she'd cut him apart and have the pieces hauled off to jail. But he sounded sincere, and while that worried her about the future, it reassured her about the present.

"And Uni?"

"I'll let you make one phone call, just one, and I'll be monitoring it. You can let your Oracle know about Uni's position and have her pick her up."

"I want that in the agreement!"

"Fine, fine, you can be such a prude sometimes, but I like that about you as well," Anonydeath said as he modified the agreement.

Noire read it over a second time and noticed that there were two changes to it, one swearing that Anonydeath would do nothing to her that would risk her life, and the other allowing her to inform Kei, and only Kei, about Uni's whereabouts. It also restricted what she could say to Kei.

That was fine, Uni would live, she would live, Lastation would survive.

She signed the agreement, her delicate fingers danced over the touch screen.

"There! I signed your stupid agreement, now give me Uni!" Noire snapped up at the giant robot.

"Of course I am a man of my word, or something like that," Anonydeath said as he reached over and pressed the blue button.

A signal was beamed from his systems across the wireless network to Noire's own. She knew where Uni was now. It was actually the basement of a small house situated rather close to the Basilicom, and almost next door to a hospital. Anonydeath had apparently anticipated her acceptance of his conditions.

And the interference preventing her from contacting anyone outside the warehouse was gone now as well. She pulled a communication device from her pocket and placed it in her ear and dialed home to the Basilicom, specifically the direct line she had with Kei.

It didn't take long for Kei to answer. She was nothing if not punctual. "Is there something I can do for you, Noire?" Kei's voice floated into her ear over the communication line.

Noire hesitated for a brief moment. She had the Kei on the line right now. A single word from her could bring the entire military might of Lastation down on this warehouse in an instant and have Anonydeath arrested for his role in Uni's captivity. Breaking the agreement would be considered a black mark against Lastation and have serious economic repercussions in the future such as making it very difficult, if not impossible, to get businesses and corporations to sign agreements with her or invest in Lastation.

And even if she did shout for help, he still had that red button, and he could just as quickly send the coordinates to this 'Spybore' if she broke her end of the agreement. It also didn't sit well with her. This Anonydeath may be holding Uni captive, but he wasn't the one that had kidnapped her, or hurt her. In fact he wasn't even interested in her beyond her ability to get Noire to obey him for a day.

And if this CFW Brave had been on the verge of delivering Uni onto certain death then in a very real sense, Noire had Anonydeath to thank for Uni still being alive, still being in a position where Uni could be helped.

Her hesitation lasted only an instant, too quickly for anyone to suspect what was going on in her mind. She sent the coordinates to her Oracle and didn't call for help, "Kei, a villain named CFW Brave kidnapped Uni. I found her coordinates. Unfortunately I'm going to be stuck where I am until morning as payment for the information. I need you to pick her up, and bring a medical team with you." Her decision was made, there was no backing out now, but a little insurance of her own was needed. "If Uni isn't there, come get me." She had to stop herself from saying rescue. She glanced up at Anonydeath who appeared to be unconcerned by her last minute addition.

"Right, I have the place located, I'll head there myself. Do you have any idea of her condition?" If Kei knew, then she could bring with her the appropriate medical response teams.

"Critical." Critical meant that if Uni didn't get immediate medical attention, she was going to die.

"…" the line was silent for a few long seconds before Kei responded, "I'll make sure to dig up every ounce of information we have on CFW Brave and have it ready for you when you return in the morning."

"Good, I want that monster found," Noire said and ended the call. She pulled the communicator out of her ear and placed it back in her pocket. No sooner had she done that than the communications jamming came back in full force. "You better not have lied to me." She wasn't going to suffer through whatever it is he had planned for her if the coordinates he had given her were wrong.

"Oh you don't have to worry about that, my sweetie," Anonydeath said in a high-pitched sing-song voice. "She's there."

"She better be, now what do you want," Noire demanded. She wanted to get this done and over with. Perhaps she'd be let go early if she blew through every one of his requests as quickly as possible.

"I think you might enjoy this almost as much as I will," Anonydeath said as he snapped his fingers. Instantly dozens of screens appeared around the two of them. Each one had a large, blown up image of Noire cosplaying a different anime or game character.

"AHHH!" Noire screamed in surprise as she looked about wildly. She couldn't believe she was seeing images of her most private and closely guarded secret on display all around her. Not even Kei knew that she cosplayed in secret. "Wh-wh-why do you have all these!?"

"Why wouldn't I? Oh, to watch my lovely Noire in secret is such a delight!"

Noire quivered in anger, he may have saved Uni, but he was still a creepy peeping tom! She wanted nothing more than to punch him in the face and throw him behind bars for the rest of his life but she forced herself to calm down. The agreement bound her to obey him so long as he upheld his part of the bargain, and thus far he had.

"So, you just want me to cosplay for you? Is that it?!"

"Such raw, exclusive in person footage! Oh such delight!" Anonydeath began to shake with happiness. "I have gone ahead and acquired quite the selection of costumes for you to try on." He snapped his fingers and a door that had been hidden before now slid open to reveal rows upon rows of cosplay costumes.

Noire's eyes widened in absolute horror at what she saw hanging in there. Her face turned beat red and steam started to pour from her ears. "Y-Y-You can't be serious!"

"I am quite serious. I bought them from some mysterious person over in Planeptune, slightly used, but quite serviceable. I made sure to wash them first. I can't let my lovely Noire be defiled by some other woman's bodily fluids."

"B-But some of them are missing pieces of their costume!" Like the cat girl costume that had no bottom! And she didn't even want to think too hard on how the tail remained attached.

"I know," Anonydeath's voice wasn't nearly as playful as it was before.

A cold shiver ran down Noire's spine. It was only early afternoon, she had to do this until sunrise the next day. Suddenly she wasn't quite so certain about her decision anymore.

"Now, let's begin."

Noire swallowed hard as Anonydeath brought out the first 'costume.'

**x~X~x**

The snow clearing services, a complex system of nano-machines under Blanc's direct control, in Lowee made sure the road was cleared enough for pedestrians to walk unimpeded, but elsewhere snow could be seen. It was never very deep within the confines of Lowee, Blanc made sure of that, but there was enough to give everything a beautiful white snow cap.

It was snowing lightly, large, fat snowflakes danced through the sky before softly settling on the ground, joining the light dusting on the ground. Despite the weather it was a nice day, a little on the cool side, but few in Lowee noticed the temperature unless it got warm enough to melt the snow, which never happened.

If it got too deep, the snow clearing services dealt with it, bringing it down to a manageable size.

Blanc slowly made her way up the snow covered street that led from the entrance of Lowee all the way to the front gates of the Basilicom. Hawkers and shop keepers of all kinds lined the street, some were in stalls while others owned stores. Since it was the main thoroughfare through Lowee it saw the most traffic, and presented the most number of opportunities to sell wares.

She was heading back to the Basilicom after another fruitless day of searching. It would be her last day searching. She'd just have to rely on Mina from here on out. There were too many things going on for her to be wandering around out here and not at home taking care of business. Her projects were falling behind as well, and she hadn't been able to read a good story in days.

But before she returned she needed to pick something up from a street vendor that normally tried to sell her wares here. Blanc's eyes darted from stall to stall as she searched for the individual, the stalls weren't often in the same place, the vendors jockeyed for position every day; the closer to the Basilicom the better.

Her sharp eyes picked out the vendor just a bit ahead of her: A small girl that looked no more than eleven but had to be far, standing on a stool so that she could see over the counter where her wares were located. She had chocolate brown eyes and short cropped hair of the same color. One of the most notable features about the young girl was the giant white bunny cap on her head. Blanc could almost make out her dress, a light blue with princess-puff sleeves and ruffled lining. Oddly enough there was a brown belt with a gold buckle around her neck, instead of her waist, and a large pocket in the front of it, which was usually filled with an assortment of vials and potions. The outfit came complete with a pair of plain brown boots and white, rabbit themed gloves.

Behind the small, young girl was a large cauldron with a small stick, poking up from the top of it. Beside the cauldron was a large table with a wide assortment of ingredients and materials of all kinds. Blanc didn't even know what half of them were, and she had lived long enough to become familiar with just about everything the world had to offer.

The young girl's face lit up as Blanc approached her stall, "Ah, hello friend Blanc, did medicine work good?" she asked in a light, cheerful tone.

Blanc stopped at the stall and looked over her products for a brief moment before answering, "Yes, thank you, Gust."

Gust seemed surprised, and at the same time genuinely happy, "Oh, that's good, Gust happy. Experimental procedure so unsure of results."

Blanc ignored that 'experimental procedure' comment, that was just the way Gust was, and no one made medicine as good as her, no one even came close. "Do you have more?" Blanc felt she'd need more before the week was out. Her headaches from working long into the night weren't easily cured by standard medicine.

"Oh yes, plenty, not cheap, materials very valuable," Gust said with a happy smile on her face, "gave experimental discount last time. Consolation in case of fatal accident."

A sweat drop rolled down the back of her head. She'd have to be more careful when ordering new medicine from Gust in the future, get one of her guards to try it out first. "Price doesn't matter, it's a government expense, can't work if I can't think."

Dollar signs appeared in Gust's eyes and she rubbed her hands together gleefully, "that good to know, fifty thousand credits each."

Blanc jerked in surprise and her eyeballs almost popped out of their sockets. "Are you frickin crazy! They were only fifty credits last time!" she snapped at the small young girl angrily.

"Experimental discount, sold at great loss, needs recoup."

Blanc twitched and jerked as she reined in her anger. Getting angry at Gust wouldn't help. She'd just charge more and tack on some other ridiculous charge such as handling or delivery. "Fine, I want four bottles," she muttered quietly and placed her hand on a scanner. Her biometrics were read and two hundred thousand credits were charged to Lowee.

"Good doing business, Gust thanks you." Gust looked behind Blanc and tilted her head, "You have children following," she said with a curious look in her eyes.

"Huh?" Blanc said in confusion as she whirled around to look at what had caught Gust's attention.

There, across the street, partially hidden behind a small pile of snow between stalls, were a pair of girls, twins from the looks of it, and one of them was partially hidden behind the other. They both had blue eyes and straight brown hair, the hair of the girl in front was long and went down to the middle of her back while the other girl, the one hiding behind the first, only had shoulder length hair. They both wore winter jackets over plain gray and white overall dresses. One jacket was a pastel pink, while the other was a pastel blue. The jackets had puffed sleeves and a frilled center part with many golden buttons, a collar with a big bow and six puffballs strategically placed. At the ends of the cuff is white fur lining and a big golden button. Both of them were wearing caps like Blanc's and had boots resembling their jackets.

Both of them were looking at her. The one out front had a hesitant but confident look on her face while the one half hidden behind her looked shy and nervous.

Blanc felt like she had just been struck by lightning. She had spent this entire time looking for someone to match the Nepgear of Planeptune without any luck and here they suddenly appeared out of the blue just as she was about to give up. They had to be the ones, not only did they look the part, they felt the part. Of course she had her pride to think so she had to do this just right. She wasn't going to go rushing over there…

A pair of arms reached out from the alley behind the girls and grabbed them from behind. The two shrieked in terror and were yanked out of sight.

The street went dead silent.

"That not good," Gust noted nervously, "Gust should hide someplace."

"DAMN IT!" Blanc snarled in anger and shot across the street. She activated her HDD and transformed in mid-charge. Her white dress disappeared and was replaced with a skin tight white bodysuit with blue and black accents. The bodysuit covered most of her legs and arms as well, leaving just her shoulders, underarms, and upper thighs bare. A pair of steel gauntlets appeared around her hands and boots around her feet. Her eyes changed to a brilliant red and her hair changed to a bright cyan with very long bangs.

She reached the other side of the street within seconds and shot between the stalls into the alleyway beyond. "LET GO OF those…" Blanc trailed off and came to a stop, hovering just inside the entrance.

The two girls were sitting side by side in the snow, their legs sprawled out, looking very confused. Whoever had grabbed them was nowhere to be seen.

That knocked the wind out of Blanc's sails in an instant. With the twins alright, and no one in sight, it was hard to remain furious for long. She dropped to the ground and reverted back to her human form. "Are you two alright?" Blanc asked softly as she made her way over to the two of them.

"Ah, yes," the short haired girl said shyly.

"Of course! S-Something like this doesn't faze me!" the other one said with a grin on her face, although Blanc could tell that it was a struggle to keep it in place.

"That's good," Blanc said as she knelt down in front of the two, "who grabbed you?"

"I dunno, we were yanked in here but then we heard a scream and whoever yanked us got yanked themselves," the long haired girl said with a helpless shrug. "But never mind that! Feed us!"

Blanc blinked in surprise,

"Ah, Ram, ask nicely," the short haired girl told her twin.

Ram looked over at her twin and gave her a grin, "oh don't worry about that Rom, you're too nice, that NPC dude person said we could just demand whatever we wanted from the old lady."

"I AM NOT OLD!" Blanc snapped angrily at the two of them.

"But he said you're over four hundred… that's old right? I think it's old, I don't know what's past two hundred and fifty six."

A vein began to throb on the side of Blanc's head. The little girl, Ram, was right, she was old, she was the oldest living person aside from Histoire, but that didn't mean she liked having it rubbed in her face. When she found that NPC person she was going to give him a piece of her mind.

Twin growls suddenly echoed off the walls of the alley. The short haired girl, Rom, rubbed her stomach and gave her sister a painful look, "Ram, I'm hungry…"

Blanc's heart melted right then and there, she gathered the two girls up in her arms and held them tightly, "come, Rom, Ram, I'm hungry too, let's go get something to eat."

Rom started to sniffle and tears began to leak from her eyes, "thank you," she said softly and buried her face in Blanc's chest.

Tears began to leak from Ram's eyes as well, "stop, Rom, don't start crying, you'll make me cry too." She sobbed as she buried her face into Blanc's chest as well.

Blanc just held them tight, she didn't know what the two had been through before they had found her, but now that she had them in her arms, she realized they were really thin, too thin for someone of their age. They must have gone hungry for some time.

"Don't worry, I have lots of warm food, let's go," Blanc said as she slowly stood up, bringing the girls with her. She slowly made her way from the alley with an arm held protectively around each girl.

She had found her future, Lowee's future, but first, she needed to make sure that future got fed properly. She fixated her gaze on the Basilicom in the distance.

It was time to return with all due haste.

**~o~**

**CRACK!**

"GUH!"

The wall of the alley cracked as a small body slammed into it with bone breaking force.

It was an alleyway several over from the one that Blanc had rescued Ram and Rom from. Like the rest of Lowee, it was a beautiful, picturesque place, marred only by the flecks of blood that dotted the fresh snow.

"W-Who are you?" a whiny, female voice demanded fearfully.

"Do you honestly think I'd tell a pathetic worm like you, Linda?" a deep, angry voice retorted.

"Pathetic worm! I'm a great villain! You're just a shadowy outline of a character because you're too unimportant for the story to care about!" Linda snapped back at the random NPC. She knew it was a random NPC because of his lack of description, and the title above his form: Random NPC 60173.

Pieces of the wall she had been slammed into tumbled off her back as she picked herself up off the ground. Linda was a pasty, light grey-skinned female with lime-green hair, red eyes, and pointed ears. She wore a dark grey and black mouse costume with black military boots and black gloves. The mouse costume was opened at the front to reveal a pierced belly button and a tiny strapless bikini top.

The grey outline of a boot slammed into Linda's stomach and hurled her into the wall again. There was another loud boom and the cracks spread even more.

"Damn it! You don't know who you're dealing with!" Linda growled as she pushed herself from the wall.

A grey outline of a hand grabbed her by the face and slammed her roughly back into the wall. Linda grabbed onto the wrists and gasped in surprise when she realized she couldn't budge his arm. She was held in a grip far more powerful than anything she could hope of breaking.

And then to her horror the grey shadowy outline began to dissolve to reveal someone that was very much NOT a random NPC. Blood red eyes glowed malevolently from within a darkened face framed by vibrant, short cut, spiky green hair. Strapped to his back was an elegant and deadly looking double-bladed spear. He wore a powerful looking black breastplate of some unknown material that stuck to his frame like a second skin, showing off an incredible set of abdominal muscles. His arms were bare save for a pair of elbow length black gloves and a pair of grey bracers used to ward off weapons. Around his waist was a black belt with a dark purple gem inset in the center of it. The belt tucked in a loose black skirt with purple trimmings that went down to his boots. The skirt was opened at the front to show that he beneath it he was wearing leg armor of the same material as his breastplate. On his feet was a pair of black army boots.

"W-Who are you?!" Linda asked fearfully. The name tag still said Random NPC 60173, and that fact terrified Linda almost as much as his appearance. This was an individual that could be anyone, or anything. He couldn't just impersonate someone; he could cross the boundaries between descriptive and non-descriptive. He could overwrite and subvert the very laws of Gamindustri!

In a way he was almost as terrifying as her boss.

"I will ask the questions here, not you," the mysterious man snarled angrily, "why are there so many of you after the twins?" This would make the third villain to go after them. First CFW Trick, then CFW Magic, and now Linda? While Linda and Trick obviously followed Magic's instructions, she wasn't being true to her nature, which meant someone was ordering _her_ around.

Linda was now quivering in fear, the pressure the man was exuding was unbelievable, it made her think of her boss, but she knew it wasn't him. "I-I-I-I…"

"If you don't answer me properly…" the grip on Linda's face tightened.

"N-no! I-I'll answer!" The grip loosened, "I was just doing what I was told to do! Honest! The boss is a really scary person, we don't dare say no, he can squash us all like bugs in an instant."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"I-I don't know why! He just wants the CPU Candidates dead and the Sharicite Crystals stolen! He doesn't tell us anything!"

The mysterious individual tsked in annoyance. Typical super villain personality, always keeping things hidden. "Then one last question. Who?"

"I don't remember exactly… I only overheard it kinda. I-It was Spy… something or—"

"Spybore…" the man interrupted her, spitting the word out like it was poison.

"Y-Ya! That's it!"

A roar of anger and rage erupted from his throat. Lowee rocked and shook as his power exploded from his body for an instant. Liquid splashed across his face and arm. A pillar of light pierced the heavens and blew away the dark clouds that hovered above the city, bringing with it a momentary period of light. He clenched his jaw and reined his power in. He still needed to interrogate Linda about the location of…

His thoughts stopped for a moment as he focused on Linda once more, or rather where she had once been. The snow around him was rapidly darkening as Linda's headless body pumped litres of blood from the gaping wound. What was left of Linda's head was splattered across the wall and himself.

He growled in annoyance, "how annoying." Humans were so fragile, now he had no lead to go on. He had already arranged for 'Mina' to be exposed. CFW Magic wouldn't be in Lowee for much longer and he didn't feel like trying to hunt her down. She could be very elusive when necessary and there was no guarantee he could even make her talk, or that she wouldn't just spout nonsense just to save her life, she wasn't easily cowed like Linda.

The best way to do it would be to locate one of the Sharicite Crystals, and lure some villains there so he could interrogate them at length. He knew where Lastation's crystal was, he could leak that information to whoever Spybore had snooping around down there.

An alarm bell went off in his head as he sensed someone powerful heading towards him very quickly. His gaze whipped to the northeast, it had to be Blanc, drawn here by his accidental display of power. He needed to get out of here before she arrived. She'd definitely demand answers he wasn't prepared to give.

And he'd hate to have to kill her to keep his presence a secret after he had gone through all that trouble to setting her up with Rom and Ram.

The light around him bent and twisted and suddenly he was nothing more than a shadowy outline again. He placed a hand against the wall opposite of Linda's smeared head and injected a bit of code into it, changing it from a solid wall into a door. He opened it and hurried inside. The moment he shut the door the natural code took over and returned the wall back to what it once was.

Just in time as well as he sensed Blanc fly down into the alley where he had just been.

"What the hell!?" Blanc's distinct voice was audible even through the thick wall.

He shook his head and glanced south, it was time to head to Lastation. He had a date to schedule.

**~o~**

The alley quickly filled up as the Investigative Unit combed over every inch of the alley and Special Forces unit stood guard around Blanc. The investigative unit was a special branch of Blanc's law enforcement that delved into figuring out the when, why, how, and whatever else they could about various crime scenes. The Special Forces was an elite force of body guards that didn't normally see much action. They served two purposes, protecting Blanc from hidden threats, or being used as a hidden threat to deal with situations that could be made known publicly.

They were different from the standard city guard, like the ones currently stationed around the alley cordoning it off from the regular citizens, and the royal guard that served as the 'normal' defence force for the Basilicom. They were the units that actually got shit done. Each individual in the unit was at least level thirty and were a credible threat to anyone outside of the CPU's themselves.

The headless corpse on the ground was a big enough incident to warrant both units arriving. While Blanc couldn't say that her city was a perfect paradise where crime never happened, rarely did someone have their head blown into bloody chunks and splattered across an entire alley way. That alone warranted the arrival of the investigative unit to figure out exactly what happened.

It was the surge of power, however, that brought the Special Forces. There wasn't a single person in Lowee that hadn't felt it and while Blanc had rushed here right away with a single minded purpose of figuring out what the source was, she had to admit to herself, at least in the very depths of her mind, that she didn't want to find out what the source was..

Whoever had been here had been immensely powerful, far more powerful than even she during the height of her power when she was the sole CPU in Gamindustri, more powerful than anyone she could ever remember.

It frightened her, a little, and that made her upset, angry, and wanting for answers.

Blanc gnashed her teeth as she stared down at her people combing over alley, a low growl escaped her throat. "Damn it! You have to have found something by now!" she snapped angrily. She wanted to smash something, but everything needed to be left intact as 'evidence' and she couldn't go back to Rom and Ram until she had at least SOMETHING to go on. So instead she just floated there in her HDD form with the head of her giant axe resting on the ground beneath her fuming impotently.

One of the members jerked a little, the female head of this particular unit, and slowly rose to her feet. She turned to face Blanc and swallowed nervously, "Ah, yes Lady White Heart. We have determined, from our investigation so far, that the victim, ah, seems to have had their head blown off."

Blanc gave the woman a long, cold stare that made her, and everyone around her, sweat nervously.

After making the woman sweat for a time Blanc raised a hand and pointed at the headless corpse, "No shit, what frickin gave that away? The damn corpse without a head or the chunks of BRAIN splattered across THE FRICKIN WALL!?" The poor woman was a quivering ball of flesh on the ground by the time Blanc finished her tirade. Blanc was well known for her explosive anger and while she had never actually lashed out at any of her own people because of it, it didn't make them any less scared when she did erupt.

"Whoever did it was a man, tall too, almost six feet in height, and very powerful from the looks of it," a new light feminine voice picked up from the side.

Blanc turned to look at the new source of information. It was another woman, who looked almost identical to the first save that the insignia on her coat indicated that she was a subordinate of the first.

"And how did you determine that? By pulling shit out of your ass?" Blanc snapped angrily.

"By the shape of the splatter marks on the opposite wall," the woman said nervously, licking her suddenly dry lips. It was remarkable that she managed to keep that much composure in the face of her Goddess' anger. "The victim was held up against the wall when killed, the blood stains all radiate out from this spot," the woman poked a singular point on the wall, "when someone is held up it's either to bring them up to eye level, or to raise them high above, however the splatter stains on the far wall," she pointed to the wall behind Blanc causing everyone to turn and look, noticing for the first time additional bloodstains, "suggests that it was the former, and the individual was bringing them up to eye level, perhaps for intimidation or questioning. What's more the clean section directly behind the explosion of blood closely matches with the typical outline of a male, although there are some discrepancies suggesting that it could be a male with a unique description, something that is almost unheard of. The size of the foot prints in the snow, and the depths at which they have sunk into it, also suggest that it was a large, unique male. The standard ones don't have their own unique set of treads."

"ANSWERS! Finally…" Blanc said in relief and turned back to the second woman, "you're in charge now." She looked down at the first, the failure that had done nothing save state the obvious, "and you, go find a new profession."

There was a whimper from the first as the guards grabbed her by the arms and escorted her from the crime scene. Now that Blanc had stripped her title from her she had no right belonging there. Being the sole, authoritative power in a nation had its benefits, and its downsides.

"There also seems to be something odd with this wall here," the new head of the investigative unit said as she brushed her hand against a section of the wall opposite of the brain stained wall.

Blanc turned to the newly promoted individual and gave her a questioning look, "what do you mean?"

"Well, the rest of the alleyway is old, you can see small stains of dirt and grime, marks from cleaning and scuffles, but this part of the wall right here, looks brand new, and it's in the exact shape of a door."

Now THAT was interesting. Blanc was already certain she'd made the right choice to promote her and dismiss the other, "I see," she said as she floated over to her. She raised a fist and slammed it through the wall, knocking it out and revealing a room beyond, a room that had wet foot prints on the floor. "Find him, whoever he is, but don't try to capture him." He'd likely be too powerful for them anyways even if they tried, "and get back to me at the Basilicom. I want to have a word with him. I have something I need to take care of elsewhere."

"Yes, Lady White Heart," the new head of the investigative unit said as she bowed before her Goddess.

Blanc nodded in satisfaction and took off into the air. The Special Forces disappeared into the shadows with her departure. Their only task was to serve as her personal shield and sword and didn't belong there without her presence.

She rocketed across the city, heading to a small inn near the main road. She hadn't enough time to make it all the way back to the Basilicom before the explosion of power had erupted. Instead she had entrusted Gust with Ram and Rom until she had investigated the cause of the explosion. Gust was one of the few trustworthy people in Lowee, at least one of the few that Blanc trusted anyways.

She was thrifty and often overcharged for her goods, but she had a good heart, and that meant a lot. The only thing Blanc worried about as she made her way to the inn was how much Rom and Ram had managed to charge to her account in the time she was away.

Not that she couldn't afford it, but Mina would never let her hear the end of it if she spent a fortune on nick-knacks that didn't benefit Lowee as a whole.

She dropped out of her HDD form as she landed in front of the inn and made her way inside. There wasn't much to comment about it, it was your stock average inn with wood walls, a large fire place, countless round tables with chairs positioned around them, some were filled, some were knocked over, some broken over the heads of drunken idiots that got too touchy feely with the waitresses.

The proprietor of the bar jerked in surprise as he watched Blanc enter, he knew who she was, everyone did, so he didn't bother her in the slightest as she made her way through the main room and up the stairs. If she wanted to speak with him, she would, otherwise he'd mind his own business and let her do what she wanted.

It was safer for his inn that way, less chances of him having to replace a wall in the future.

Blanc found the room easily enough. Ram had a very distinct voice that was easy to pick out even through closed doors. She opened the door and walked in without knocking like she owned the place, which she technically did. She owned all of Lowee and rented out land and space to its residents. It ensured a steady stream of revenue.

The room was the classic inn room, cheap, barely furnished, and not kept very well. There was a small side table beside a wooden bed with a single lumpy mattress. Aside from that there was only a short table in the center of the room and a wooden dresser propped up against one of the walls. There were no candles or sources of light beyond what the small window inset in the outside wall provided. Gust had said she was fine with it, it was cheap, and allowed her to focus her money on her projects instead of her rent.

Gust was sitting on the right side of the table, her legs stretched out under it, with her body twisted as she pawed through a large bag at her side. The clinking Blanc could hear indicated that there was a lot of glassware, or other fragile items, therein. On the table was four plates of food, three of which were emptied, two were completely licked clean as if their owners had been ravenously hungry.

It didn't take a genius like Blanc to figure out that the two cleaned plates belonged to Rom and Ram, both of whom were on their feet and holding unique and interesting looking staves in their hands. Rom held on to her staff tightly with both hands, hugging it to her chest, while Ram waved hers around above her head without a care in the world.

"Ah, welcome back, Blanc," Rom greeted Blanc shyly as she entered the room, she was the first to notice her.

Blanc noticed Gust let out a sigh of relief and quickly hid something back inside her bag. There were some nervous sweat drops on her forehead that she quickly brushed away, but Blanc took notice of them.

Ram stopped waving her staff around when her sister drew her attention to Blanc. A huge smile appeared on her face. "Hey, hey! Do you see this?" Ram asked Blanc excitedly as she ran up to the CPU. "It's a powerful magic staff! I'm so going to beat up all the bad guys with this!"

"Yes, it… looks nice," Blanc said quietly and gave Gust an inquisitive look, it was obvious that the two got them from her.

"Dangerous outside, needs protection from bad guys," Gust explained with a slight shrug of her shoulders. The little alchemist pointed at the staff in Rom's hands, "Staff of Arland, good for defense," she gestured towards Ram's staff, "Staff of Dusk, good for offense."

"And expensive," Blanc added, noting their unique design. Something that looked that unique, and felt that powerful, had to cost a fair bit of money.

"Of course, must make profit on venture, lots of risks obtaining staves," Gust said with a smile, agreeing with Blanc's statement. She waved her hand though, as if trying to alleviate her concern, "but no worries, already charged Lowee, you had funds necessary for purchase."

Blanc swallowed hard, almost dreading the answer to her next question, "how much?' she didn't want to know, she really didn't, but she had to know so she could figure out just how large a dent in her piggy bank this was.

Gust had a bright smile on her face. "Threw in bulk discount, only one million each."

"GURK!"

Blanc trembled, a tiny stream of blood leaked out of her mouth and down the side of her face as she bit her tongue hard enough to make it bleed. It was taking all her will power not to belt out a long string of profanities.

Two million credits, gone, just like that, in an instant. Combined that with the two-hundred thousand from earlier and she had just wiped out an entire month worth of revenue in a single day.

Mina was going to flay her alive with her tongue when she got word of this.

"Then there were accessories…" Gust continued, holding one hand with the other and using her fingers like she was ticking things off a list.

"See my cool new bracelet?" Ram asked as she proudly showed off a gold bracelet studded with countless precious gems.

A second stream of blood joined the first, this time dribbling out of the other side of her mouth.

"Accessories precious, five hundred thousand credits each…"

Another million, gone, just like that.

"Aren't my matching anklets awesome? They let me jump higher!" Ram said as she happily showed off a pair of anklets around her ankles. Rom had a matching pair around her own ankles.

Make that three million, over four million in total, gone. That was two months' worth of revenue…

"And then there was legendary book of ice magic…" Gust went on.

Blanc fainted.

**x~X~x**

**Morning of the next day…**

Noire rested against the back of the elevator as it made its way to the top of the Basilicom where her sanctuary was. Her head was tilted back against the side of the elevator, her eyes closed with one hand covered them while the other dangled limply at her side.

It was over, the nightmare she had to endure was over and she was finally home, safe and sound. What she wouldn't do for a large bottle of alcohol, some painkillers, and that bottle of contraceptives she threw away, just in case.

Technically it wasn't possible to get pregnant from what she had been forced to endure, but everything considered, she wouldn't put it past Gamindustri to pull a fast one on her just to watch her suffer some more. Because she knew now, beyond a shadow of a doubt, after what Anonydeath had done to her, that Gamindustri was indeed out to get her. There was simply no other way life could be so cruel to her otherwise.

And those costumes had been 'gently used' as well. That meant there was someone else out there that had been forced to endure the same pain as her. She was going to make it her mission in life, a side one of course, to hunt down the sick, sadistic bastard that made those clothes and force whoever it was to wear them as well. And then she was going to take pictures, lots and lots of pictures, and forever shame and humiliate them in front of the entire world.

There was a soft ding as the elevator reached the top floor but Noire's mind didn't hear it, so lost in her thoughts of revenge and suffering.

Well, regardless it was over now, and so long as those pictures and videos Anonydeath had taken of her never reached the masses, she'd survive. Although Noire was well aware that Anonydeath now had an incalculable amount of blackmail material to use against her, but he was also aware that should they ever reach the public he wouldn't live long enough to see the resultant worldwide reaction. Noire would personally hunt him down and make sure of that.

She shifted and shivered as a chill ran up her spine. While some of the costumes had been 'gently used' some had obviously been used a great deal more than the rest and she was suffering as a result of that. At least no one would ever find out about THAT bit. She had made sure to conceal that no how uncomfortable the walk back to the Basilicom had been.

But at least Uni was safe, or at least she was assuming so since Kei hadn't come to her rescue. If Kei had not come then it meant the information Anonydeath had provided had been genuine. He was, if nothing else, faithful when it came to upholding his end of the agreement.

Which, despite what he had forced her to endure, still placed him ahead of half the people she dealt with on a regular basis. Many of the corporations she had regular dealings with tried every single underhanded tactic they could to get one over her. Had she been in any of their grasps things would have ended far worse for her.

"NOIRE!"

She was jerked from her thoughts by the sudden shout. In front of her, in the elevator, was her Oracle, Kei, looking at her with concern etched on her face. Noire started in surprise, she had reached the top floor without even realizing it, and had apparently worried her Oracle to no end.

"A-Ah, sorry, j-just… thinking," Noire said as she tried to reassure her Oracle that everything was alright.

It didn't work. "Is everything alright, Lady Noire?" Kei asked, concern even more evident in her voice than before. Kei was far more perceptive than anyone else which was one of the main reasons Noire had actually picked her to be her Oracle, of course in times like this it was a little inconvenient.

"Ah, yes, I-I am," Noire said hesitantly. If she had to be honest she was still a little dazed after what had happened to her.

Kei frowned, she didn't like the condition her CPU was in. She had been ordered not to interfere while Noire was engaging in the business transaction, and she hadn't, but nothing prevented her from going there after the fact. Kei was definitely going to take a squad of Lastation's best and scour that place from top to bottom to see if she could pick up any leads on who did this to Noire.

Just like Kei knew Noire too well for her to hide anything, Noire knew Kei, she knew that look on her face. "You don't need to go check," Noire said hastily as she tried to halt Kei's plans to go back and check things over. "Everything is fine, besides, that perverted creep is probably long gone by now."

"Perverted creep?" Kei asked, an eyebrow raised curiously.

"N-Nevermind that!" Noire stammered as she fought down a new wave of blushing that threatened to spread across her face. She didn't want to be forced to remember any of the details that'd happened to her. "Did you find Uni?"

Kei sighed and let it go, if Noire was being this defensive it must have been bad enough that she didn't want even her to know what had happened. "We found Uni, right where you said she'd be," she said as she stepped backwards, out of the elevator and turned to the door at the back of the room, "it was close, had we reached her much later we would have lost her. She's resting now in the one of your spare rooms. Between our doctors and Planeptune's state of the art medicine, she's expected to make a full recovery."

"Good, I want to see Uni for myself," Noire said and stepped out of the elevator, letting the door close behind her. She gingerly made her way across the room, making sure each step was as soft and light as possible. Each step still sent a shiver up her spine that she had to work hard to suppress. There was no way she would admit that it was starting to feel good.

"Are you sure you're alright, Lady Noire?" Kei asked as she fell into step beside her CPU. Anyone could see that she was walking differently than normal, a lot different. It was almost as if someone had taken her purity...

But no, that was impossible. There was no way Noire would ever let someone take her chastity from her. It was unthinkable that she would give it up for anyone… anyone except perhaps Uni.

Kei shook her head, banishing those thoughts from her mind.

"I'm…" Noire wanted to say fine, but she wasn't. She was anything but, but did she dare admit that to Kei? She trusted Kei, of course, she wasn't one to spill secrets like Neptune or cause a scene. In fact, of everyone Noire knew, Kei was probably the most trustworthy to keep her secrets, well, a secret.

And she needed help, she had tried to solve her issue herself and had simply made it worse in the process.

Noire stopped at her desk and let out an annoyed grumble. She'd have to ask for help. Uni was the only other person she'd trust with this and she did not want Uni to see her in this condition. This needed to be resolved before she met with her.

She turned to Kei and rested her fists on her hips as she gave Kei an even look, "You must not speak of this to anyone!"

"Of course, Lady Noire," Kei replied with a bow. She knew there was something wrong, she'd keep it a secret of course, she cared about Lastation's reputation, and Noire's, almost as much as Noire did.

"I-I wouldn't be asking this normally b-but the situation has escaped beyond my ability to control!"

"Of course, Lady Noire."

"I-I mean, if I had enough time, I could obviously fix it myself, b-but I need to see Uni quickly and…"

"I understand, Lady Noire, how can I help?" Kei asked, cutting her CPU off. If she didn't Noire would probably go on for the next ten minutes justifying her request for Kei's help.

Noire bit her lip as she stared at Kei for a long moment before finally nodding her head. "Alright, you better not speak of t-this to anyone, you hear!" she stated firmly and turned her back to Kei. She reached under her skirt and pulled the panties down to her ankles and bent over the desk, sticking her bare rear end into the air.

Kei blinked in surprise and a nervous bead of sweat dripped down the side of her head. She stepped up behind Noire and looked over her rear end carefully. From the outside it looked perfectly normal, there was nothing there to indicate what it was that Noire was asking help for.

"W-Well? I don't have all day!"

"I don't see anything wrong, Lady Noire," Kei said in a light tone that belied her real feelings.

Noire blushed when she realized she hadn't actually mentioned what it was that she needed help with. It was so embarrassing to even think about it, let alone talk about it. She swallowed hard and steeled her nerves as she forced out what she never thought she'd ever say, "i-it broke off i-inside me. I-I need you to… to take it out." Her face was beat red from embarrassment. The only thing that saved her was the relative privacy of her sanctuary. Only Kei was here to see her like this.

And that perverted creep that had cameras all over the place, but he already knew. She would need to do a thorough sweep for those after this.

"I see," Kei said as she placed a hand on Noire's cheeks. She felt a shiver run up Noire's body and quickly realized that this was going to be a very, very uncomfortable situation for the both of them. She gently spread the cheeks to expose the tightly clenched hole beyond.

"D-do you see it?"

"No, you need to relax."

"R-Relax?! With THAT in me?"

"Just breathe deeply, in and out."

"Whuuuu hoooo-EEP!"

That was a cute sound Kei had never heard Noire make before.

"I'm opening you wider."

"I-I don't need a step-by-step play! Just do-AHHH-it!"

"Please don't clench, Lady Noire, it makes it harder."

"Y-You don't need to tell me that!"

"I have three fingers inside now, can't feel anything."

"EEP! S-Stop feeling around so much!"

"I'm stretching you more."

"NO! I'm already stretched far enough!"

**SLURP!**

"AHHHHH!"

"You're really tight, Lady Noire."

"N-Not-AHH-w-what I want-EEH-t-to hear!"

"My hand is inside now… I think I feel it."

"J-Just-AH-get-AH-it out."

"Some kind of bead… got it, pulling out."

With one swift movement Kei ripped her hand from inside Noire, wanting to be done with this entire embarrassing fiasco as soon as possible. Out with her hand came a string of five beads, obviously part of some other item as the string dangling from the bead in her hand was frayed and snapped.

Unfortunately in her desire to finish the entire ordeal as soon as possible she hadn't counted on the reaction her swift extraction would garner from Noire.

With a cry filled with both ecstasy and shame, Noire was pushed over the edge. Her legs gave way and she collapsed to her knees. Fluid poured down her legs and splashed all over the floor of the Basilicom creating a pool of clear, yellowish water as the sexual high joined what she released from her bladder.

She'd been holding both in the entire time, refusing to give Anonydeath the satisfaction of seeing her in this state. However she wasn't with Anonydeath anymore, she was in the safety of her own Basilicom, and the stimulation she had received due to Kei's assistance had simply been too much for her to handle.

And as a result she was now creating a rather large puddle on the floor beneath her, much to her embarrassment.

"Y-You will never, I mean NEVER, speak of this to anyone!" Noire hissed in shame and embarrassment.

"Speak of what, Lady Noire?" Kei asked as she feigned ignorance of the entire ordeal, much to Noire's relief. To be honest Kei wished she could erase it from her memory as well. Exploring the... inner workings of her Goddess was not one of the things she expected she'd have to do when she accepted this job. "I didn't see anything, however the cleaners seemed to have spilled some water on the floor, let me find something to clean that up for you. You should go get washed in the meantime, we can see Uni when you are refreshed."

"Y-Yes, of course, I-I was just thinking that myself!" Noire said. Using the desk as leverage she pulled herself up to her feet. She glanced down at the shame that was still pooling around her feet. Holding it in for over eighteen hours had taken a monumental amount of will power, and now that the will power was gone her body was determined to empty itself of everything, against her will even.

She stepped out of the panties that were wrapped around her ankles and kicked it across the floor, "and burn those please, I don't even want to look at them again." Those weren't hers, she had been forced to wear them after her own were ripped in half accidentally.

Then she turned and marched from the room.

Two hours, and one long, warm luxurious bath, later, found back at her desk feeling clean, wearing a fresh pair of clothing. The mess had long since been cleaned up and no evidence of its existence remained.

She had already checked in on Uni, she needed to see her with her own eyes. Like Kei had said she was healed, and resting now. Noire had opted not to disturb her and let her awaken on her own.

So here she was now, going over all the information she had on the one that had kidnapped, and nearly killed, Uni.

"You're sure this is everything?" Noire asked as she pored over the documents.

"Yes, Lady Noire."

Noire hummed as she memorized all the information. CFW Brave was, up until now anyways, a petty criminal that worked to make little kids happy by illegally distributing hardware and software without paying for it. Honorable, brave, large, powerful (he was at least level sixty) and boisterous were some of the words often used to describe him, although a few did mention angry and hot-blooded, but that was mainly from the testimonials of criminals that preyed on young children and ended up on his bad side.

He was doing wrong in order to do right. All in all, had he not kidnapped Uni, Noire would have felt for the guy and could almost see herself working with him to achieve his goals, legally of course.

But because of him, Uni had been taken. Because of him, Uni had been hurt. Because of him, she had been forced to endure eighteen hours of that… humiliating nightmare. She had been forced to dance and pose and… she didn't want to think of what else she had been forced to do, all at the tune of that perverted creep!

Three more zeroes were added to the number beside his name, upping the bounty on his head from ten thousand credits to ten million.

Later, if one were to ask, one might almost be able to make Noire admit that she was feeling more than a little vindictive and had gone just a tad bit too far with the bounty price. One might even be more than a little curious why she didn't even think to add a bounty to Anonydeath's head.

Unfortunately even with all the information at her disposal, none of it gave any hint or indication as to where he was now. His trail was cold. It simply disappeared at the edge of the city. It was possible he transformed into a jet and flew off. Those types of mechanical units did exist. If he could fly that would make it doubly hard to track.

As for his 'employer…' this Spybore that Anonydeath had mentioned. Noire couldn't find any information on him at all, not a single ounce or scrap of it. There were plenty of hints that someone or something was organizing all the major criminals worldwide, but nothing about Spybore himself. It was like everything he did was through an intermediary.

"Is the information satisfactory?" Kei asked. She was more than willing to continue to dig out information on this CFW Brave for Noire. Considering everything he had been directly, and indirectly, involved in, Kei was almost as interested in bringing him to justice as Noire was.

"Yes," it wasn't, but Noire knew the time and effort to get more wasn't worth it right this moment. There was something else more pressing. "I want you to change your focus, search all of Lastation for glowing Sharicite crystals." There had to be one for Lastation. If Planeptune had one, and Vert had gone on an adventure to find hers, game logic dictated that there existed one in Lastation as well. Lowee too, but she didn't care about any crystal found up there.

Things fell into place for Kei. Noire had always cared about Uni but she seemed extra driven to rescue her no matter what. "You wish for Uni to become a CPU Candidate?"

"She's obviously way better than this Nepgear or anyone Vert and Blanc could dredge up, she'll have the shares rolling in like nothing." Noire said with an imperious sniff. She flushed when she realized that she had hinted at being something less than perfect, "of-of course, I'm not saying I couldn't keep Lastation afloat by myself, I alone am better than everyone else, but it doesn't hurt, you know, to reward her hard work." That sounded a lot better to Noire.

"Of course, Lady Noire," Kei said with a ghost of a smile on her lips, "I'll redirect the focus of our search immediately."

**x~X~x**

Blanc groaned as she slowly woke up. She placed a hand beside her and used it to prop herself up out of her bed. The bed sheets slid down her body and a hand went to her forehead, rubbing it gently as she tried to wipe away the last vestiges of a nightmare she had been having. It was a nightmare where two cute little girls had just spent the worth of the GDP of her nation in the span of two hours.

"Ah, good morning friend," the familiar voice of Gust pierced the haze of sleep that clouded her mind.

"'Morning," Blanc replied as she stretched. She let out a wide yawn and tried to rub the sleep out of her eyes.

It was about that time when Blanc realized that something was wrapped around her waist. She glanced down and noticed Rom and Ram sleep on either side of her, the two of them were still sound asleep with their arms wrapped loosely around Blanc's waist. They were only wearing their plan grey and white dresses they normally wore under their winter coats, everything else had been taken off.

They had apparently done the same for her as she was dressed in little more than her white and brown mini-dress. It was then that she realized that she wasn't wearing any panties; the two of them had even removed them for some odd reason. She hoped they had at least kept theirs on.

Still, Blanc wasn't upset at them in the slightest. Seeing the two of them sleeping beside her with a pair of content looks on their faces banished any annoyance or anger before it could even form. She reached down and gently stroked their hair, the two of them made cute murmurs in their sleep and hugged Blanc tighter. A soft smile spread across Blanc's face. She had been pretty sure before, but she was certain now that these were the two that she had been looking for.

"Sorry bout last night, maybe took things too far," Gust apologized from where she sat at the table. Blanc looked over at her, the small alchemist looked as if she hadn't moved from her spot since the night before.

"That… wasn't a nightmare, was it?" Blanc asked cautiously.

"Gave refund on magic book, not for me to choose path," Gust replied, dashing what few hopes Blanc had left that her nightmare had been just that, a nightmare, and not Gamindustri screwing with her.

Blanc twitched and let out a long sigh as she let it go. She should be erupting violently right now but for some reason she just couldn't bring herself to. Rubbing her hands through the hairs of the two young girls sleeping peacefully beside her may have had something to do with that.

Instead Blanc asked the dreaded question, "what… was the final total?" She just wanted it out of the way so she could think up of an excuse to give Mina for the waste of funds. Gust usually never gave refunds, the fact that she had done so with the magic book was a miracle in and of itself, even if it was a miracle born from the depths of hell itself.

Gust did a quick tally in her head, she hadn't totaled them up before, just kept charging as Rom and Ram wanted more stuff. "Grand total, eight million credits," she said after tallying everything up, "with books, would have been twelve, but gave refund for good friend and repeat customer." To be honest, while the goods were rare and legendary, she had also marked the prices up by several thousand percent so giving a refund on one or two items didn't really hurt her bottom line.

And Ram had traded Blanc's panties for a pastel blue purse for herself and a pink one for Rom. Blanc's apparel, especially used ones, went for a good price on black market. But Gust thought it was prudent not to mention that, especially since she already had a buyer set up. There was some good credit to be made there.

Had Blanc found out about that, she probably would have exploded, even with Rom and Ram sleeping peacefully at her side. As it was, the grand total was still almost enough to do it alone. She had to work hard to rein her anger. Eight million was an astronomical amount. Blanc always ran a surplus in her nation, as a result the coffers continued to expand year after year. Eight million however had just knocked out ten years of surplus savings.

She still had a lot more in them, but Rom and Ram had certainly managed to put a rather large dent in it. There would definitely be some conversations in the near future about wantonly spending the Lowee's money on frivolous things.

Although considering how dangerous Lowee had become the past few weeks, the staves and the magic book may end up being a sound investment. It still wasn't going to be much of an excuse though, she could have probably gotten close to the same quality of goods from another vendor for a fraction of a fraction of the price Gust charged.

Thinking of Mina however made Blanc realized she needed to get back to the Basilicom. Her Oracle was always worried when she was gone for too long. It was strange, and lucky, that she hadn't check in on her as of yet.

"Ram, Rom, time to wake up," Blanc said softly as she gently shook the two girls beside her. The two of shifted in their sleep and let out small groans as Blanc shook them from their slumber.

Rom was the first of the two to wake up. She slowly sat up, untangling her arms from around blanc and rubbing her eyes with them. "Ah, good… morning."

"I wanna sleep some more," Ram complained as she tried to burrow her face further into the pillow. Ram was not a morning person, especially when she was in a soft, for her anyways, warm bed.

Blanc's eye twitched and she bopped Ram gently on the head, "no more sleep, we have things to do."

"Awww," Ram complained as she slowly sat up as well, rubbing the sleep from her eyes in an identical manner to her twin.

"Thank you," Blanc said to Gust. Despite having charged Lowee an arm and a leg, along with just about everything else, she had provided a safe place for Rom and Ram while she dealt with other issues.

"You going to Basilicom now?"

"Yes, I need… to do things," she said softly. Things such as transforming Rom and Ram into CPU Candidates as soon as possible. As much as she trusted Gust, she didn't want word to get out just yet.

"We're going to the Basilicom?! Yay!" Ram cheered for a brief moment and then stopped. She tilted her head as if she just remembered something, "Hey, hey, Blanc, this weird random grey outline dude told me to give you something before going to the Basilicom…"

"A Random NPC?" Blanc asked.

"Ya! Random NPC 601-something or other, whatever, doesn't matter, anyways, he gave me these to give to you," Ram said as she pulled out a pair of broken red-rimmed glasses smeared with blood.

Blanc's blood went cold the moment her eyes rested upon them. She'd recognize them anywhere. Mina was the only one in Gamindustri that wore that particular set of glasses.

"… I don't know why he'd want me to give you a crappy pair of broken glasses but—" Ram yelped in surprise as Blanc snatched the glasses roughly from her.

She glared at the glasses in her hands, they were definitely Mina's, and that was definitely her blood on it, mixed with other, less savory fluids. Something was very wrong here, Mina had been perfectly fine yesterday morning. She had seen Blanc off for the day. There was no way this was possible. "Did he say where he found these?" Blanc demanded roughly as she shifted her gaze to Ram.

"AH!" Ram jerked back, suddenly wondering if she'd done something wrong.

Blanc struggled to get her glare under control, it wasn't Ram she was upset with anyways, "I'm… not… upset at… you, just tell me!" her words came out broken as she tried to contain the anger bubbling up from inside her.

Both of the girls were scared, neither of them had ever seen Blanc truly upset. The brief exposure in the alley way had been overshadowed by confusion. "He-he said… from the dungeons…" Rom said nervously.

"Dungeons…?" Blanc muttered to herself. There were no dungeons in Lowee, aside from the standard hunting zones outside of the city. She had gotten rid of the prisons long ago after realizing that they were only a drain on society and didn't actually fix anything…

Wait… there were dungeons under the Basilicom. Blanc had almost totally forgotten about those. Leftovers from the early days of her rule when things weren't as… civilized as they were these days. That first century after the rise of Planeptune had been a rather dark time in Gamindustri's history.

Blanc climbed over Ram and set herself down on the floor of the inn room. "Sorry, for waking you two, you can go back to sleep. I'll be back after… I've taken care of something."

"Gust thinks something bad is happening, does friend needs Gust's help?" Gust asked as she stood up as well. She was much stronger than she looked, and her alchemy abilities gave her an incredible amount of utility and support.

"No, just… keep them safe until I return, and have them start learning magic from those books," Blanc said in a terse voice. It was taking a great deal of self-control to prevent herself from erupting right there. The only thing that was managing to hold her back was Rom and Ram. She didn't want to frighten them any more than they already were.

"Will do friend, no charge this time," Gust said with a friendly smile. Even she knew that something far too serious was going on to be thinking about profit.

"Thank you," Blanc said and left the room. The moment the door closed behind her, her eyes went pure red and she instantly transformed into the HDD form. She didn't bother with the front door, she made her own exit, straight through the roof.

She was going to get to the bottom of this, and there had better be some heads for her to crack.


	12. Death and Recovery

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hyperdimension Neptunia. All characters, thoughts and ideas that exist in this story that were taken from the original works belong to their creators, Compile Heart and Idea Factory. Only original thoughts and or characters created in this story are my own.**

**Chapter 12: Death and Recovery**

**At some point in time either in the past or future, somewhere that may or may not be the current Gamindustri…**

She landed before the large tent in the center of the enormous encampment. Tents were pitched side by side in neat, circular, rows. The tents progressively got larger and more ornate as one moved closed to the center. The size and decoration associated with each tent gave clear indication of importance, with the most important individuals living closest to the center.

The tent at the center was the largest and most ornate of them all, as it should be as it belonged to her, the Goddess and leader of her people.

There was an orange glow in the background that made dark of night as bright as dusk, a testament to hard work and effort her people had given for her today. She was pleased with their efforts and the results gained. There was some rest in the near future for them all, as thanks for their hard work. It would also give her enough time to plan the next stage of her conquest.

She pushed back the flap of the tent and entered. Numerous floating light sources hovered near the roof of the tent providing all the light one could ask for. The tent was sectioned with adjustable walls. There were three small 'rooms' in the back for the occupants to sleep in while the rest of it was given over to a living room that doubled up as a strategic center when need be.

And right now the other two people she had hoped to see were there as well: Falcom and UbiSlyph. They had done especially well, Falcom in commanding her troops and UbiSlyph in taking out Kei and Lastation's communication network. The campaign against Lastation had been almost too easy with their help.

"Falcom, UbiSlyph, you've both done well," Neptune said as she slowly made her way across the room to take a seat at the rooms sole table with her two friends.

"Ya well—" Falcom started in surprise as she looked up at Neptune, almost biting her tongue in the process.

"Is something wrong?" Neptune asked as she began to pick at the meal before her. It had been prepared well in advance in anticipation of her arrival.

Falcom and UbiSlyph exchanged concerned glances. UbiSlyph had noticed right away what Falcom had. Swallowing hard Falcom shook her head, "Ah, no, everything is fine." Neptune's blood red eyes bespoke of everything _not_ being fine but Falcom couldn't bring it up. Despite being close to Neptune, she wasn't _that_ close. Better to keep quiet for now and see how things played out.

"You sure?" Neptune asked suspiciously. It wasn't Falcom to speak hesitantly.

"I'm just tired," Falcom said as she waved away Neptune's question, "and glad this is all over." Fighting monsters was one thing, she did that all the time. It was what she was born for. Even striking down an infected Noire could be justified to some extent, she had become viral, and at least part monster in that incarnation, plus it was in defense of her own Goddess.

Slaughtering millions of innocent people just because they decided to worship a different CPU was something else entirely and it did not sit well with Falcom. One thing was for certain though. She would never be able to sleep peacefully again. The screams of the dying would haunt her for the rest of her life.

"There's… something else, Lady Purple Heart," UbiSlyph said in an unsure voice. She was obligated to show her CPU, it was her duty, and Neptune did deserve to know, but at the same time UbiSlyph was afraid of what might happen if she did. If it was the Neptune of the past UbiSlyph wouldn't hesitate, she knew Neptune would take it the right way, but the Neptune of now? She wasn't so sure.

"Yes? What is it?" Neptune asked curiously, pausing with her meal and gave UbiSlyph her attention.

"You don't have to show her," Falcom said as she shot UbiSlyph a warning look, "we both know it was planted and false, nothing else makes any sense."

UbiSlyph gave Falcom a quick glance and shook her head, "she needs to know about the planted file."

"What file?" Neptune demanded. She didn't like how something important was being kept from her.

The assassin gave Falcom an apologetic smile, there was no withholding the information now that Neptune knew it existed, and turned to her CPU. "I had time to scour Noire's computer after I killed Kei. There was an interesting file on it."

"Oh?"

A laptop was slid across the table and came to rest before Neptune. Open on it was a single file, the file that implicated all the CPU's in the invasion and destruction of Planeptune by viral attack.

Neptune's eyes widened in realization at what she had here, especially when one considered the legitimacy of the file, "This is…"

"Obviously false. Rom, Ram, they wouldn't even understand half of that—"

"—Lowee doesn't even have anything to gain from it, our shares never overlapped," Neptune added, seeing what UbiSlyph was getting at. The entire file was filled with impossibilities. Neptune's understanding brought a glimmer of hope and relief to the two women, "there's also no hint that Noire intended to be, or was ever, viral, and Vert and Xone? Neither of them talk like this, Xone's signature doesn't even match."

"Exactly, it's quite possible there is a third party behind the scenes trying to destroy Gamindustri… they… were probably behind the invasion, and Noire's viral infection."

"Yes, you're right, anyone that knew the others as well as we do would be able to pick that up instantly," Neptune agreed and a smile began to cross her face, "however, to the masses, they wouldn't be able to figure that out. They'd eat it up in an instant."

"Neptune?" Falcom asked with worry in her voice. She didn't like the way that last bit ended.

Neptune gave Falcom and UbiSlyph a gentle look, "I had always intended to destroy Lowee and Leanbox after Lastation, but I had trouble figuring out what excuse to use. This… file gives me everything I could have hoped for, and more."

The brief flicker of relief from earlier was instantly doused and a cold chill ran down Falcom's spine. "Neptune… you can't be serious."

"I am serious. I'm going to end the console war. This mysterious assailant is even more a reason to do it sooner rather than later. I will need to be at my strongest, I will need to have ALL of Gamindustri worshipping me when I face it. I will make them pay for destroying the peace we worked so hard to build, but before that I need to create peace anew, an everlasting peace where only I reign supreme at the top. A Monopoly!"

The silence that followed was deafening. Neither UbiSlyph nor Falcom could believe the words coming out of Neptune's mouth. She knew the file was false, she knew that the CPUs had nothing to do with the viral invasion. She knew that they were all under attack by this mysterious, third force, and yet, despite all that, she fully intended to go through with destroying everyone.

It made no sense.

This wasn't the Neptune they knew. It was obvious to Falcom and UbiSlyph that as much as Neptune's outward appearance had changed, her personality had changed even more. She was wholly infected on the inside, and it was only time before her exterior changed to match it.

"Thank you, UbiSlyph, for this wonderful gift," Neptune said, breaking the uncomfortable silence that hung in the air, "and you as well Falcom, for doing so much for me up until now. However neither of you will be needed in this war to come." They'd just get in her way anyways. She had no intention of actually trying to cross the water to Leanbox, and Lowee's military was pitiful. Her only threats were the CPUs themselves, and Falcom and UbiSlyph wouldn't be able to contribute to the airborne battles to come.

"I'd like to stay and see this through to the end," Falcom said softly.

UbiSlyph gave Falcom a surprised look. She hadn't expected that from her, but the look in Falcom's eyes bespoke of something different.

Neptune looked just as surprised as UbiSlyph, but she didn't notice the same look. "Well, if you wish to help, I won't turn you away, there just won't be much for you to do."

"I'll join… too," UbiSlyph said softly.

"Good, there's much planning to do."

This was looking better and better for Neptune all the time.

**~o~**

"What are you planning, Falcom?" UbiSlyph asked her friend as she sidled up next to the adventuress.

The two of them were alone, outside the tent. Neptune was asleep, exhausted by the day's events and everything leading up to it. Even though Neptune hid it well, she was running herself ragged.

"We can't let this happen…" Falcom said softly. It pained her to do this, to say this, but there was no recourse left.

"You mean to stop Neptune," UbiSlyph whispered in return.

"Yes, legitimacy in killing Uni and destroying Lastation stood on the shakiest of grounds to begin with." And even then it only stood at all because they were woefully ill-informed on what was going on behind the scenes. Had Falcom known that they were all being played by a hidden evil she never would have agreed to invasion and would have argued against it. "But Neptune doesn't even care. She knows the other CPUs are innocent and had no hand in the viral invasion, but she still seeks to kill them and destroy their nations anyways."

"I heard that long ago this was the norm," UbiSlyph said quietly, "that a great console war ravaged the world and all four CPUs vied equally to kill one another for supremacy. This could simply be the restart of that same war…"

Falcom sighed and rubbed a hand across her forehead. That thought had crossed her mind as well, and if that was all it was, she'd have been able to get behind it. "But that's not what this is. This is not Neptune deciding to restart the console war so she can stand at the top. She had changed, the others have changed, everything has changed. The infrastructure of the four nations have changed, agreements, policies, trade, the nations are all interconnected now, they weren't in the past. There are many families that are multi-national. The console war of old is dead and over, all-out war between nations a thing of the past. For Neptune to simply wish to start it up again and form a monopoly… this isn't her speaking."

UbiSlyph nodded her head, she agreed with Falcom. Neptune was definitely not acting like her old self. Ever since Nepgear had been killed, ever since she had become infected by that virus that was slowly twisting her mind and body, she had been travelling down a path darker than anything she ever had before.

And even if Neptune did want to restart the console war, it had always been, at its essence, a war between the CPUs and those that wished to fight for them. The inclusion of civilians, random people Neptune should be trying to win over, not slaughtering, signaled that something was very wrong.

"Do you have any ideas?" UbiSlyph asked, indicating that she was behind Falcom in this, depending on what it was she had in mind.

"Neptune is powerful, but not all powerful. If Vert and Blanc, along with the remaining CPU Candidates, all attacked her together they'd easily beat her. The four of them are more than enough to keep her in check. If they can do that, and push her back to Planeptune…"

"And then what?"

"Try to find a cure for the infection that's spreading through Neptune. If we can cure her, and bring her back to her old self, then maybe… just maybe… this conflict can be halted before it gets any worse." She had no idea how she was going to cure Neptune, but things couldn't keep going down the route they were. Nothing good awaited them at the end, even she could see that.

"I'll go speak with Vert and Blanc, I can reach them without Neptune knowing," UbiSlyph whispered softly. A playful smile graced her lips, "it would take too long for you to reach Leanbox anyway. Whatever ship you took would just sink."

Falcom let out a quiet chuckle and gave UbiSlyph a grateful smile, "No doubt. While you're gone I'll do my best to stall Neptune as long as possible. The men, and her, all need rest, especially if they want to take on a power backed by two CPUs."

**x~X~x**

Falcom did everything she could to stall Neptune. The adventuress had pulled out every excuse from resting the troops to consolidating her power in Lastation's lands, to actually sitting down and doing some administration work, what work Neptune could do anyways considering her distance from the Basilicom and with her nation in ruins. Ultimately though, two weeks was the most Falcom could push it. To try and delay it further ran the risk of Neptune becoming suspicious.

Those two weeks were enough however. UbiSlyph pushed herself to her limits to meet up with Blanc and Vert within that time frame while still being there for the strategy planning sessions with Neptune.

The two CPUs, Blanc and Vert, readily agreed to help UbiSlyph and Falcom with their plan. They had both been shocked at Neptune's actions in Lastation, not so much as the attack itself, although that certainly had come as a surprise, but the sheer brutality in which she carried it out. It wasn't like her, and hearing UbiSlyph's explanation of the viral infection in Neptune did much to dispel the confusion surrounding Neptune's sudden change in personality.

They had both vowed to do what they could to bring the old Neptune back.

Everything had been planned out, on the day Neptune was to begin her siege of Leanbox, Blanc and Vert were going to bring the entire might of their nations down upon Neptune, defeat her, and force her to withdrawn back behind her borders.

It would be a four-on-one battle that she wouldn't be able to win. And her forces, pinned between Leanbox's powerful naval forces and Blanc's own, would fall as well. Star, Ocean and Valkyrie would appear as well, 'defeat' Falcom, and force UbiSlyph to flee. Star and Ocean had returned to Leanbox after Neptune had let them go and had readily agreed to aid Falcom and UbiSlyph in ending the conflict before it got any worse.

Valkyrie wanted revenge for what happened to Lastation. She had stood by helplessly as her nation burned and her fellow people died. She'd had no idea just how brutal Neptune had intended to be that day back in Planeptune, and by the time she realized the truth, Lastation was already ablaze. She was determined not to let the same happen again.

It was an almost perfect and foolproof plan. Neptune would be fighting alone, against overwhelming odds, without any advantage what-so-ever.

Falcom's only worry was that this defeat would end up driving Neptune even further into the madness that was slowly consuming her.

**x~X~x**

On an abandoned beach on the west coast of Leanbox, an enormous corpse had washed ashore. From the tip of its nose to the end of its tail the corpse was nearly seventy feet in length. The black skinned monstrosity looked as if it had been in a vicious battle. Scars and injuries dotted its body and green blood still flowed slowly from its innumerable wounds. The most interesting aspect of the wounds was that they all appeared as if they had been inflicted from the inside.

Without warning a hand punched its way through one of the larger wounds in the side of monsters chest. The first hand was quickly followed by a second. The two hands gripped either side of the wound and with herculean strength ripped it open.

A head popped out after that, followed by the rest of the body as a man pulled himself from the corpse. He was covered in blood and guts, making his features almost completely indistinguishable. All that was notable was the form fitting armor he wore on his chest and legs.

"Goddess damn piece of…" the man grumbled to himself as he pulled his leg out of the corpse and let himself roll off the side onto the beach.

And then promptly started to drown as the surf returned and washed over his worn out body.

"BLAH-COUGH!"

"What are you trying to do?" a familiar, friendly but not friendly voice asked him.

He sat up and looked over at the small, green-haired woman floating just to the side on an open book. "What does it look like? I'm learning how to drown." he retorted sarcastically.

"Not well enough, you can still talk, why don't you lie down for a while longer and see if you can actually drown yourself this time?" the floating woman asked in a nice, sing-song voice.

"Love you to, Histoire," he said as he stood up and stretched his muscles. Being cooped up inside that corpse for so long had left him cramp and stiff. One good thing about almost drowning himself was that the water had washed off the worst of the blood and guts. One could now recognize his short blonde hair, pale complexion, and green eyes.

"Feelings mutual, M. Code, you're the only one that wants to experiment, or even has a sense of humor."

"Drop the M, I haven't decided if I even want to keep it yet."

"Your mother would protest."

"Mother can go die in a fire for all I care."

Histoire's face twisted into a vicious grin, "and that's what I like about you. Always challenging the status quo, not like the others."

"The others can all go die in the same fire as mother," he spat out and turned towards the large behemoth that laid next to him, "anyways… do you have ANY idea how annoying it is to get eaten? Like seriously, it sucks, big time."

"I can't imagine, I've never been stupid enough to place myself in a situation where I've been eaten."

"I can fix that for you."

"No, I'm quite fine, thank you, I'll leave you to forage ahead and do all the stupid things in my stead."

He rested a hand on the side of the corpse and shook his head sardonically, "you know, I still don't know what sort of madness possessed me at the time when I decided it was a smart idea to create the Viral Behemoth Prime." He had to be insane, I mean, why else would he have been stupid enough to create something stronger than him AND couldn't control?

"Brilliance and insanity go hand in hand," Histoire said as she fluttered over to Code and landed on his shoulder, "you're millennia ahead of the others in creating new viral plagues and minions. Willing to take the plunge without a second thought to the consequences."

"Another reason why I like Neptune so much," Code replied lightly as he began to slowly float up into the sky. He wanted to see where he was so he could get his bearings and get back to Neptune as quickly as possible.

"Your stupidity is the same, if nothing else," Histoire agreed. "Although you may be worse than her. She doesn't know better, you do, and you still do it."

"And that's why you stick with me instead of the others."

"Of course."

The two fell silent as Code flew through the sky, heading further inland while gaining altitude. He had a feeling he knew where he was, the landmarks were starting to look familiar but he wanted to be sure first.

It didn't take long to confirm as a familiar village appeared on the horizon. He sped up and quickly arrived just on the outskirts. He was certain of where he was now. The village below was Xone's home town. The soft spoken, quiet individual that took great pleasure in trolling Neptune.

This was Leanbox, which meant far to the north east would be the capital city. Code looked to the northeast, straining his eyes as he tried to focus on the city in the far distance. He could just barely make it out. It was hard to see it through all the… smoke?

He blinked in surprise. That didn't make any sense… why was Leanbox under attack? Had Planeptune fallen while he was eaten and the war moved on to Leanbox and Lastation now?

"What the hell is going—" he was abruptly cut off as a streak of purple energy shot down from the sky.

The energy blast just barely missed him but it hit the village below with pin-point accuracy. There was a massive eruption of light and heat as a dome of purple energy quickly expanded and consumed every inch of village below. With a bright flash of purple light the energy exploded, sending dirt and debris flying in all directions. When the dust settled, there was nothing left of the village, only a large, smoldering crater where it, and its residents, had once been.

"What the hell was that?" Code asked with a dead panned expression on his face. Aside from slightly ruffling his close the blast had done nothing to him, but it had certainly been unexpected.

Histoire glanced over her back and down at the smoking crater. She turned to Code and gave him a vicious smile, "that would be Neptune destroying Leanbox."

"Ummm…"

"Yes, she had a brilliant plan. She knew she couldn't beat Vert's naval forces, so she simply set up dozens of long range artillery emplacements. She's going to bomb Leanbox into oblivion."

Code looked over at his shoulder where Histoire was sitting, "And why would Neptune try to destroy Leanbox?"

"Because she's gone viral, I went ahead and infected her for you, in preparation for your miraculous return. She has a very strong will. She's putting up a remarkable resistance to its influence, not like Noire who succumbed almost immediately. Pretty surprising for a useless Blank Slate, I was sure she'd fall faster than Noire."

"…Why?"

Histoire gave him a curious look, "why what?"

There was a low grinding sound of Code ground his teeth together, "Why did you infect her?"

"Don't ask stupid questions," Histoire snapped in annoyance, getting upset that Code was upset. She had gone out of her way to do him a favor, he should be thankful, "you show up now, save her from the CPUs that are swarming her, and she'll give you her everything. Her mind, her body, her soul, everything you've wanted. You'd have her knocked up by the end of the month, guaranteed, and walking down the aisle in two."

Muscles clenched, eyes flashed a dangerous red color, "you stupid…" his hair became erratic and spiky, shifting from blond to a vibrant green, "…piece of…" he began to tremble uncontrollably.

Histoire swallowed hard, her annoyance suddenly fled as fear began to take hold. She had expected him to be happy, this wasn't in her predictions, "Code?"

"…**SHIT!**"

Code erupted with power as he fully transformed. A pillar of dark green energy erupted around him, piercing the heavens and driving deep into the earth. The island shook, the sky split, the earth sundered, and the land burned. An enormous wall of green fire raced across the landscape, scorching the surface of the island, reducing nigh everything to ash, and that which survived forever changed, infected, viral.

Histoire was beating a hasty retreat but she didn't get far before am ash colored hand clamped around her small body in an iron grip.

"GAH!" Histoire writhed in Code's grip, she could feel the bones in her body cracking as he held his strength just shy of pulverizing her.

"It wasn't her mind, or her body, or her soul that I wanted!" Code growled in an ominous voice, "**IT WAS HER HEART!**"

"I-I don't u-unders-stand…" Histoire could barely speak, the pain was excruciating, and Code didn't leave her a lot of room to breathe.

"That smile that could light up even the darkest of nights! The laugh that could bring cheer to the weariest of hearts! The positive attitude that could bring hope to those lost in the darkest pits of despair! That blinding love that could sweep away all the sorrows of the world! **THESE ARE WHAT I WANTED!**" Before Neptune, he had only known what existed within the darkness. But Neptune had lifted him from that, shown him that there was more to life than madness, pain, suffering, and sorrow. An infected Neptune couldn't do any of that. A viral Neptune was the LAST thing he ever wanted.

"If… you wanted… Neptune's heart…" Histoire gasped out, "then you shouldn't… have killed… her Histoire."

"YOU suggested that! YOU said that she was on the verge of initiating the Revival Protocol!" Code yelled at his Histoire.

"And she… was…" Histoire's consciousness was fading fast. She didn't think she'd die like this. She had greatly miscalculated what it was about Neptune that fascinated Code. "But… Neptune's… heart closed… when she buried… her…" she slipped away.

Code quickly loosened his grip. He didn't want to kill Histoire. She was too useful. She was his. "You're going to help me fix this mistake or I'm going to show you that special place in hell I was reserving for mother!" Histoire couldn't hear him, but he knew she understood, he had felt her small, limp body tremble in response. He had her book, after all. He could do unimaginable things to her with that in his grasp.

There were only two ways to cure Neptune of her viral infection. It was likely in its final stages if she was besieging Leanbox like this. The first would be to go back and time and prevent it from ever happening.

The second would be to find an alternate Neptune, and use her to cleanse the infection. Both had their advantages and disadvantages.

He turned his gaze northwards, to the CPU battle that was winding down. He couldn't see it, but he could feel what was happening, a little. He'd have to see how the situation was first before he could make a decision.

**~o~**

**A few minutes earlier…**

A streak of white and green clashed against a dark purple in the skies above the coastline between Lastation and Leanbox. A sonic boom rippled away from the epicenter of the impact before the streaks of light split apart. The three streaks danced around one another as the white and green sought to suppress the purple.

Neptune growled in annoyance as Vert appeared in front of her, the long deadly spear she wielded already seeking her blood. Neptune deflected the lance to the side but before she was able to counter-attack a massive axe screamed through the air behind her, forcing her to abort any attempt at counter-attacking Vert.

Her escape route was quickly blocked by a wall of solid ice. She smashed through it, knowing she couldn't fall back without giving Blanc and Vert an opening in which to strike.

But there was a trap waiting for her on the other side. A dozen floating laser turrets targeted her the moment she tore through the wall and fired.

There was no avoiding those, all twelve hit her and sent her tumbling through the air. Her skin burned, felt like it was on fire, her suit had a dozen new holes added to the numerous rips and tears it had already accumulated over the battle.

Everything had been going so well for Neptune, and now everything was going very wrong.

"Give it up Neptune! You'll never beat us!" Blanc yelled at her fellow CPU.

"You're viral, infected, we can help you, but you need to stop this insanity," Vert said as she tried to reason with her old friend and ally.

Neptune was well and truly gone now, her porcelain skin was now deeply tanned, her vibrant purple eyes, a malevolent red, ringed by inky darkness. Her once beautiful hair, twisted and snarled, a sickening deep purple green color that made one sick to their stomach if looked at too long.

The viral goddess didn't respond. She'd rather die than give them the satisfaction of seeing her beaten, of seeing Planeptune beaten. They always looked down on her, even now they looked down on her. She knew their pleas for what they were. If she were to stop now, if she were forced back to Planeptune in defeat, her nation would never recover. Her people would die, she would die, her nation would end.

She wouldn't let that happen! She'd see the world BURN first!

"Please, Nepgear wouldn't want this," Rom said softly as she floated up beside her older sister. She had two staves in her hands, her own, and her sister's. She had learned to use both simultaneously over the course of the war, she could now mount an offense at the same time as defense.

"I'd rather much go back to trolling you, then fighting you, much more enjoyable that way. It's been awhile since I tricked you into doing something stupid," Vert's little sister added as she floated up as well, taking position behind the other three. The CPU Candidate of Leanbox had lost her left arm long ago when she and Vert had gone to find her sharicite crystal. Despite the loss however she had learned to adapt quite well, and her HDD form provided her with a cybernetic arm in its place which more than made up for the loss.

Neither she nor Vert would ever talk about how she lost it.

"And don't you dare try to play any friggin pity card! I lost Ram when she tried to protect your damn city!" Blanc snapped at Neptune. Neptune wasn't the only person to have lost someone precious in the war.

"Your army is being routed, your artillery is being destroyed, and Falcom and UbiSlyph are captured. You have nothing left, stop this before it's too late," Vert pleaded to Neptune, while they had been enemies once, to see Neptune like this was just too painful.

Neptune knew that, they didn't need to tell her that. She had seen Star and Ocean overwhelm Falcom, watched UbiSlyph get blindsided by Valkyrie. Vert's naval forces were pounding her emplacements, her own forces unable to protect them due to Blanc's army keeping them occupied.

And she was up here, all alone, against four CPUs: Vert, Blanc, and their little sisters. She didn't know where things went wrong though she suspected a spy in her upper ranks was responsible. The moment Blanc's army had appeared in the north, everything had gone downhill. The entire plan had hinged on taking out Vert's populace, and therefore power through faith and shares, with her artillery while her own forces protected them from Vert's naval forces. She'd be able to keep Vert and her sister at bay long enough for her artillery to weaken them.

But Blanc's arrival had changed that. They were too coordinated for this to be anything but a planned interception.

And now, she was on her last legs. If a miracle didn't happen soon, Neptune was going to lose.

Just as Vert and Blanc prepared for their final strike against Neptune, that miracle appeared. The island nation of Leanbox rocked and quaked as a massive pillar of light erupted from the eastern side of it. The island split and a wall of green fire raced across it in an instant.

Vert and her little sister both gasped and went into shock as the sudden loss of their shares sent their bodies into cardiac arrest. The sudden destruction of Leanbox caused Blanc and Rom to both stiffen in shock and disbelief.

This was it, her chance, the opening she needed. While Vert and her sister were incapacitated she could strike at Blanc and Rom. Rom needed to go first. It was her defensive capabilities that had prevented Neptune from getting any clean hits in.

With a burst of speed Neptune streaked through the air towards the shell-shocked girl. However Rom hadn't survived the viral war without being able to recover from surprising situations quickly. A half-spherical barrier of ice appeared around Rom, blocking Neptune's charge.

Unfortunately she didn't have enough time to harden it before Neptune crashed into it. It stopped her charge but the barrier shattered into pieces. Shards of ice went shooting everywhere, many of them cut into Neptune as well, but she had been prepared and covered her vitals.

Rom wasn't so lucky. She screamed in pain as the ice shards bombarded her as well, hammering her unprotected body. She quickly tried to cover her herself but it wasn't fast enough as a shard of ice slammed into the side of her face. Her skull split and her left eye exploded as the ice tore a huge gash down the side of her face.

"Time to die!" Neptune crowed victorious as she recovered from the explosion of ice and lunged at Rom with Gehaburn extended.

Blanc and Rom weren't able to react in time, the former due to the shards of ice and the latter due to pain.

But one person did.

"GAH!" Neptune screamed in pain as a dozen kunai stabbed into her legs and arms. She was painfully ripped away from Rom before she was able to pierce her with the cursed blade. A dozen wires wrapped around her body and bound her arms and legs tightly. A pair of legs wrapped themselves around her waist and her one arm curled around Neptune's neck, painfully craning her head back.

"…take Rom, Vert, run…" a soft, pain filled spoke voice spoke from behind Neptune.

"DAMN YOU! LET ME GO!" Neptune roared as she struggled against the wires and the hold. She could feel the wires giving a little, but it would take time to break free entirely. The CPU Candidate of Leanbox had the forethought to deactivate her transformation before she could go fully comatose due to the loss of shares, but she was weakened, greatly weakened, and Neptune could more than finish her off. The hold couldn't keep her contained for very long.

But it was more than enough for Blanc to finish her off, or escape.

Blanc hesitated for a moment. Her axe was raised to finish Neptune off. But the sight of Vert and Rom spiralling towards the distant ground stopped her. She could finish Neptune, here, now, but she would lose Rom, and Vert would probably die as well. Vert's little sister was dead no matter what, she couldn't hit Neptune without killing the young girl.

Vert's little sister probably knew that when she bound Neptune. She was prepared to give her life so that Blanc could rescue the others and escape.

"DAMN IT!" Blanc screamed in frustration and threw her axe away. She quickly dove for Rom and Vert. She caught them just before they reached the ground. Blanc then spoke the hardest words she ever had to speak in her life. "All troops, retreat, now, Vert and Rom are down, abort the plan. I repeat, everyone, fall back, and so help me if you get yourself killed I'll bring you back and kill you again!"

Alone Blanc was strong enough to beat the weakened Neptune, but there was no way she could do that while keeping Vert and Rom safe. Star, Ocean and Valkyrie had already left the battlefield, taking Falcom and UbiSlyph with them so there wasn't anyone she could rely on the keep them safe.

Blanc glanced down at her unconscious little sister, the bloody wound on the side of her face was serious. Rom needed immediate medical attention and lots of rest. The battlefield was no place for her in this condition.

They'd have to flee back to Lowee and regroup. Neptune wouldn't follow. She was insane, but not stupid, not like her old self. She was on her own last legs, her army was almost totally destroyed, her military emplacements nothing but craters filled with smoke and rubble. If she stayed Vert's naval fleet wound pound the rest of her forces to nothing before she was able to destroy them all due to her weakened state. She'd be forced to fall back and regroup as well.

Unfortunately her own army had fared even worse. Neptune's army was better equipped and more experienced. Blanc's army had never been meant to defeat Neptune's, merely delay and distract it so that Vert's forces could take out the military emplacements. Once Neptune was defeated the CPUs would then help the military route the last of Neptune's army.

But then Leanbox got destroyed, and that changed everything. The only reason neither Vert nor her sister were dead, was because of the numerous people in the naval fleet that still worshipped them. That meant their Goddess Crystal still existed, in one form or another.

She gritted her teeth as a blood curdling scream reached her ears. She shuddered as she felt the CPU Candidate of Leanbox die and her life force sucked up by Neptune's cursed blade. She'd make sure Vert and Rom made it to safety, for her sake if nothing else.

But Blanc knew that there would be some very dark days ahead for Gamindustri.

**x~X~x**

**Back in the present day…**

**In a place that may or may not be the same Gamindustri as the previous scene…**

**But is at least the same Gamindustri as the previous chapter…**

A tall, lanky male entered silently entered the small bedroom. He was dressed head-to-toe in dark clothing that shifted and changed colors with his surroundings. They were designed to hide him from those he did not want to see him. He was currently making a conscious effort not to conceal himself considering he was about to meet his employer.

"Have you found the imposter yet?" Blanc demanded without turning away from the four-post bed she was sitting beside.

The man shook his head and twisted the gold ring on his finger, a symbol of his job and position, "no, she escaped," he said, making no excuses for their failure to find the perpetrator.

Blanc twitched, once, the only indication that the news annoyed her. While she would like to rage and scream in frustration, berating her top agent in the Special Forces because he could find and capture one of the most powerful super villains in existence was a little uncalled for.

When they had found Mina, injured, drugged, malnourished, and delirious down in the dungeons she had been mumbling a host of unintelligible words. A few, however, were decipherable, and the name 'CFW Magic' came up more than once, and not in a good context. That one Blanc was going to deal with herself when she caught up to her. She was going to show CFW Magic just how painful it was to have an axe head shoved up her ass.

Since it was CFW Magic they were dealing with, Blanc wasn't too 'upset' that they had failed to apprehend her, although it still annoyed her that she managed to escape. If it had been someone like the late Linda, Blanc would definitely expect results, but someone like CFW Magic was beyond the Special Forces ability to defeat, let alone capture.

"Tail her, I want to know where she was headed," Blanc ordered. There was something odd going on here and she wanted to get to the bottom of it. The investigative unit had discovered that the headless body had been Linda, a small-time mid-boss type villain that was usually used as fodder for the bigger ones like CFW Trick or Magic.

And if the reports she had read awhile back were correct, then CFW Trick was also, or had also, been here in Lowee, hunting down children, his whereabouts were unknown at this time. Three villains, working together, to ensure that Blanc never found Rom and Ram. It was a miracle that she had been able to find the girls at all.

Something didn't add up…

"I have some subordinates attempting to track her down but it may be difficult. She can fly and took to the air soon after she left the capital. We do know that she was headed west by north west," the head of the Special Forces said.

Blanc grumbled under her breath a second time and glanced at the occupant of the bed once more. Mina looked a lot better now that she was cleaned up and bandaged, although her body still showed signs of extreme malnourishment. The IV drips would only be able to sustain her until she awoke to get some real meals in her.

She had been unconscious, or close to, since the moment Blanc found her. It was possible her mind had been broken and she simply didn't want to wake up anymore. Blanc knew, fully, what had been done to her Oracle. The 'information specialists' and their bodyguards had been more than talkative once Blanc started to dish out the pain herself.

It was funny that, the ones most eager to hurt others so disliked being hurt themselves. They had caved in pretty quickly once they understood just how 'upset' Blanc was with their actions. There were several cracks in the foundation of the Basilicom and body imprints in the walls that needed to be fixed.

Blanc hadn't much use for her dungeon before, but now she did, there were a dozen people there, including the guards that protected the place for imposter and the information specialists. She'd leave them there for the time being until she figured out what to do with them. Unleashing her own 'information specialists' on them was one option, but she doubted such unimportant people would divulge any sort of useful information.

The door to the room opened again and two more Special Forces agents made their way into the room. The two took up positions on either side of the door to let the three people they were escorting into the room.

Blanc's features softened as Rom and Ram entered the room, their heads might as well be on swivel posts, their eyes were all over the place, taking in all the new scenery. The high, vaulted hallways, marble floors, and delicate, ornate rooms would certainly be a huge change from the snow-covered back alleys they were used to, or the cramped, orphanages from their childhood. Gust filed in silently behind the two, her eyes were just as wide, but for vastly different reasons. Blanc could easily make out the stars and dollar signs bouncing around within those expressive orbs.

Rom was the first to notice her. Her eyes lit up and a shy smile crossed her face. She hurried across the room over to her and held something up for Blanc that the CPU hadn't noticed she was carrying earlier, "Ah… I brought, breakfast?" She had a plate of food in her hands.

The head of the Special Forces did a quick scan of the meal to make sure it was safe, even as Blanc reached out to accept it. "Thank you," Blanc said softly as she set the meal on her lap. Now that she was able to sit back and relax, just a little, she realized she hadn't eaten anything since the day before. Her stomach had been silently protesting all day by trying to digest itself.

Ram bounded over to her sister, having gotten over her awe of the new surroundings to notice that she had wandered over to Blanc. "Ya! It was so my idea, you left so quickly you never ate the dinner we saved for you last night!"

Blanc paled a little as she glanced down at the meal in her lap. There were definitely some things on that plate that shouldn't be left out for over a day to spoil. She gave the head of the Special Forces division a quick look. He nodded and silently left the room, heading for doctor they kept on hand at the Basilicom.

"Thank you," Blanc said softly and began to eat the meal. The utensils had been wrapped up inside the meal with it so at least she didn't have to use her hands.

"Well? Is it good?" Ram asked eagerly.

She swallowed another bite of the cold meal, trying as much as she could not to chew, "Yes," she lied and swallowed another bite, trying her best to ignore the sour taste on her tongue, or the boiling acid in her stomach that protested the foul intrusion.

"Yay!" Ram cheered happily and a brilliant, happy smile crossed Rom's face. The two girls hugged each other happily, "told you it was a good idea!"

"Was… my idea too." Rom said softly.

Great, now she definitely had to eat the whole thing. Blanc let out a short sigh and tried her best to finish the meal. She prayed she'd be able to hold on until Rom and Ram went to bed, or at the very least left the room. Her stomach was already starting to churn violently.

There was a sympathetic look on Gust's face as she watched Blanc force down the meal. She had known the meal was spoiled but she hadn't the heart to tell the girls and let them down. They had both seemed so excited about being able to help Blanc after she had helped them.

"Hey look, Rom! It's Mina!" Ram said excitedly as she noticed the oracle in the bed for the first time. She climbed onto the bed and clambered up Mina's prone form. "She looks just like you did last week!" she added, noting the hollow cheeks and malnourished frame without actually realizing what she was seeing.

"She looks… weak," Rom said as she too climbed up onto the bed, sitting beside Mina with her legs sprawled to either side of her butt.

"Rom, Ram, Mina needs to sleep," Blanc said as she set the meal down, glad she found an excuse to put it away. She wasn't sure she could finish it without passing out, "don't disturb her."

"Nah! We won't! We used to always do this to her when we were little," Ram said as she pulled out a black marker. Rom had a blue one in her hands.

"I'm going to… draw a kitty," Rom said as she placed the blue marker on Mina's cheek.

"I'll give her a beard!" Ram shouted happily.

Blanc started in surprise when Mina's face twitched. She had been completely unresponsive to all her attempts at waking her up…

"And a doggy…"

A vein started to throb on Mina's forehead.

"UNABROW!"

"ENOUGH!" Mina shouted angrily as she snapped awake in an instant. Her seemingly weak, fragile wrists snapped around Rom and Ram's with a grip like iron.

"AH! She's awake! RUN!" Ram shouted in panic as she tried to flee the scene. Rom just stared at her puppy design that was totally ruined by the long blue streak that went straight through it, and down Mina's neck.

"Rom! Ram! How many times do I have to… have… to…" Mina trailed off, her eyes widening in disbelief. "…R-Rom? Ram?" she said their names out again, as if not believing what she was seeing.

Rom began to sniffle. "My puppy."

"It wasn't me! It was the old lady!" Ram protested as she threw out a feeble excuse and tried to hide her face with her one free arm.

The two little girls let out startled squeaks as they were suddenly pulled into a tight embrace. Mina buried her head into shoulders and let out a shuddering sigh filled with relief. Tears of joy started to mist her eyes as she continued to hold the two squirming girls.

She had been so worried, the information about the little girls had been taken from her, countless scenarios had flashed through her mind, each more horrible than the last. Anyone that was willing to torture that information from her had nothing but the worst of intentions for her little girls.

When they had come for her afterwards, she had thought it was simply for their sick perversions, and they simply hadn't given any indication to the contrary. It had been far worse than any previous session.

But they were safe, they were in her arms, they weren't under the knives of a sadistic, cruel, monsters that delighted in the screams of others.

She lifted her head slightly and tilted it to the side. Blanc was there, giving her a small smile. There were questions in her eyes, concern too, for her well-being, but fire too. Mina could tell that Blanc had no intention of letting those that worked her over get away with what they did. Blanc was storing up a whole truck load of righteous fury to unleash upon the perpetrator when she caught up to her.

A low growl suddenly echoed across the room.

"Ah! You're hungry!" Ram said as she and Rom managed to wiggle their way out of Mina's embrace, "you should have some of the meal we brought, it was really good, I had some last night." She pointed over at the half-eaten meal on the bedside table.

"Eat," Rom said quietly as she reached for the plate.

Blanc's eyes widened in horror. She hurriedly grabbed the plate of food before Rom could grab it and threw the rest of the meal down her throat in a single gulp.

It almost came back up a moment later. She felt like she was about to die on the spot due to the retched food.

"HEY!" Ram protested indignantly as she glared at Blanc, "you're supposed to share! Mina always told us sharing was caring!"

That may be true, but sharing THAT meal meant death. Blanc had to use every ounce of her iron will to keep the meal down. Her stomach was violently rebelling against her and her face was starting to turn a sickly shade of green. If Mina had eaten that meal, in her weakened state, she really would have died.

"I'm fine, Ram, Rom, I'll eat soon," Mina promised, trying to reassure the little girls. She shot her Goddess a concerned look. She could only imagine the suffering she was going through right now and made a mental note to add that to the list of things she needed to thank her for. "How did you find me?" she asked Blanc.

"Ram gave me these," Blanc said as she set Mina's broken and blood-stained glasses down beside the empty plate of food on the bedside table.

Mina's eyes widened in surprise, she recognized those glasses, it was impossible for her not to. They were the same ones that strange individual had forcefully extracted from her inventory. Mina had nightmares about those glasses, how they could be used to taunt Blanc or blackmail her into something unthinkable.

"Some weird random NPC gave them to me," Ram said with a smile on her face and pointed at Blanc, "he said to give them to the old lady that would feed us."

An eyebrow twitched violently on Blanc's forehead. She was going to have to do something about Ram's nickname for her.

"Random NPC 60173?" Mina asked softly.

"Ya! That was it, weird that a random NPC would just come up and talk to us like that."

Now Mina was completely confused. The man had her, no all of Lowee, at his complete mercy, and yet he had gone out of his way to help them? But if he was a friend, an ally, then why did he leave her there to be tortured? Nothing made sense.

Blanc caught Mina's confused and contemplative look in her eyes and knew she needed to speak with her alone, she also needed to get Rom and Ram out so she could empty the contents of her stomach without being offensive.

"He offered us candy, it tasted really good, so I guess he was alright for a random NPC," Ram added after a few moments of silence.

"Ram, what have I said about following strangers just because they offered you candy?" Mina scolded her sternly.

"Ah, don't worry about that!" Ram waved away her concern.

"I… was really, hungry," Rom said softly, revealing the real reason they had probably accepted the candy. Mina's stern gaze softened a little when she realized that the two had probably been starving. If she looked close enough she could still see signs of malnourishment, they were definitely thinner than young girls their age should be.

Out of the corner of her eye Blanc saw the head of her Special Forces return along with the resident doctor. In his hands was a tray of real food that hadn't been left to spoil overnight and a bucket. That gave Blanc all the excuse and reason she needed to bundle the two girls up and get them out for a while.

"Thank you," Blanc said as she stood up from her chair and accepted the tray of food from him and handed him the empty plate from the bedside table. She set the bucket down beside the bed and placed the tray of food on the bedside table before turning to the two girls on the bed, "Rom, Ram, Mina needs her rest, this man will take you to your new rooms, you will be living her from now on," the CPU of Lowee said and gestured towards the head of the Special Forces.

The doctor made her way over to Mina to begin an in-depth analysis of her health.

"We… get to live here, now?" Rom asked cautiously as she turned to Blanc, she was afraid to hope.

"Yes."

"You mean we don't have to sleep in the snow anymore?" Ram asked eagerly as she climbed over Mina and jumped off the bed.

"Yes."

"D-Do… we get to eat every day?" Rom asked, tears were beginning to well up in her eyes.

"A-Are the beds warm and…" Ram couldn't finish the sentence as tears began to run down her cheeks.

"Yes," Blanc said as she pulled the two girls into a tight embrace. "From this day forward, you two will be my little sisters. You will live here, and sleep here, and eat here, and play, and read, and have fun."

The two little girls began to sob into Blanc's chest. Tiny little tear drops ran down their cheeks and soaked the front of Blanc's white dress as they cried out all the loneliness and suffering they had been forced to endure while out on the streets of Lowee. Blanc felt a little uncomfortable by their unabashed display of emotion but she only held them tighter in response. They were hers now, she wouldn't let any harm come to them if she could help it.

"Aw, makes Gust feel all warm and fuzzy inside, wonder if Gust can find big sister somewhere," Gust remarked as she watched the heart-warming scene unfold before her.

Blanc almost started in surprise when the little alchemist spoke. She had totally forgotten Gust was still here. Clearing her throat roughly, Blanc pushed Rom and Ram away a little and pointed to the head of her special forces. "Go, he will take you to your rooms, I will be there soon."

"Yes," Rom said shyly and looked over at the man Blanc had pointed out.

"Right! You better not go back on your word! We want three warm meals a day! At least!" Ram demanded as she wiped away the tears from her eyes.

"Yes," Blanc said, reassuring them. It was truly telling how harsh their lives had been up until now if their greatest demand was to be allowed to eat properly. She looked over at the agent, "escort the two of them to Room 503." It was next door to her own and she was certain the two would probably want to stay together, at least for the next little while anyways.

"As you wish, Lady White Heart," he replied and looked over at the two little girls expectantly. The two agents at the door stepped outside, they would follow closely behind as added insurance. "This way, Lady Rom, Lady Ram." If they were going to be considered Blanc's little sisters from here on out they stood above him on Lowee's hierarchy.

"Ah, just… Rom," the shy girl said softly as she and Ram followed the head of Blanc's Special Forces out of the room.

"I'm not Lady! I'm Ram!" Ram's voice floated in from outside the room as she added her opinion to her sister's.

Blanc was silent until Rom's and Ram's voices faded into the distance. From the sounds of it they were bombarding her Special Forces agents with a slew of questions and inquiries. She could only imagine the haggard expression of their faces as they tried their best to maintain their severe, professional image while being pestered by little children.

After the last of the voices faded away Blanc turned to Gust, "thank you."

Gust sheepishly rubbed the back of her head and gave Blanc a large smile, "Ah, no problem friend, least Gust could do, if ever needs more medicine, you know where Gust is found."

"You could… stay here," Blanc offered. She knew Gust was constantly forced to change the location of where she hawked wares due to tough competition in Lowee. And despite having been charged an astronomical amount of credits, Gust had done both Blanc and Lowee an enormous service.

"Thanks, but Gust needs decline, can't travel and finds rare herbs and items while cooped up in castle," Gust replied regretfully.

"I see, farewell," Blanc said.

"Bye, friend Blanc," Gust said and waved cheerfully at Blanc as she made her way from the room.

Gust no sooner left the room then did Blanc hurriedly grabbed the bucket and brought it to her face. "BLARGH!" a putrid, foul smelling odor stank up the room as everything Blanc had just eaten, along with everything else she may have consumed in the past week and a half, came up violently.

The doctor gave Blanc a sympathetic look and quietly left the room. There was no change in Mina's condition from before. She was still weak and malnourished, but nothing else. The drugs had already been drained from her system and most of her injuries bandaged and taken care of. There wasn't anything to inform her Goddess of, which was the only condition in which she was allowed to speak, so she slipped out silently and left the two alone to discuss things.

"They're good girls, honest and straight forward," Mina said, the relief and joy from before still very evident in her voice.

"But seriously lacking in education, I'm ordering you to teach them, and the first thing I want you to teach them is the difference between good food and spoiled food," Blanc said as she set the bucket down and rubbed her poor, abused stomach.

Mina gave her CPU a soft smile and nodded her head, "of course, I will be glad to teach them." The smile disappeared though as her thoughts went back to an earlier point in the conversation, "this Random NPC 60173 is… something very different."

"Seems like a good person to me," Blanc replied. He had treated Rom and Ram to candy, guided them to her, notified her of Mina's impersonator and capture. He was a hero as far as she was concerned. He may have just single-handedly saved Lowee from destruction.

"I don't know. He's certainly not working with the villains but… I'm not sure I would call him a hero. Why did he leave me in the dungeon? Why didn't he just rescue me? Why did he make me think he was with the enemy?" Mina asked Blanc.

That brought her up short. Mina had a very valid point. A real hero wouldn't have left Mina there to rot. The only way he could have gotten her glasses was if he had actually met her. Mina kept all her glasses in her inventory.

"And then there was what he did to that door, and to me, he rewrote the fabric of Gamindustri."

That tickled a memory in the back of Blanc's mind. Rewriting the fabric of Gamindustri, something like that had happened just recently. "The wall," Blanc murmured to herself as the memory flashed across her head. The perfectly clean and smooth wall where everything else was worn and dirty.

"You saw him?" Mina asked eagerly, wondering if perhaps Blanc had figured out more.

Blanc shook her head, "No, but someone, a male capable of destroying and rebuilding the structure of Gamindustri, did kill the petty mid-boss villain Linda," violently too if the remains were any indication to go by, "and there are hints that Linda was working with your impersonator to… take Rom and Ram." Now that Blanc thought about it, she didn't know why there were so many people after the little two girls.

CFW Trick could probably be written off as simply a pedophilic lust for little girls, but the other two had no 'personal' reason to.

"This is confusing, his actions don't follow any of the standard stereotypical villain or hero archetypes," Mina said in exasperation, rubbing her forehead in thoughtful concentration. It was almost like he was caught somewhere in the middle and didn't know what he wanted to be.

Blanc leaned over the edge of the bed and rested a hand on Mina's shoulder, "we will just have to ask, when we meet." It was obvious that they would, someday. A character like that didn't run around forever in the background. Blanc grabbed the tray of food on the bedside table and placed it in Mina's lap, "eat, I want you healthy as soon as possible so you can start teaching my little sisters." And hopefully save Blanc some suffering in the near future. She wasn't sure how many of those spoiled meals she could eat before she keeled over.

Mina looked up at Blanc and smiled at her, "I will start tomorrow," she said and began to pick at the meal that had been brought for her.

"You need to recover." Blanc didn't want Mina to overwork herself. That was for her to do.

"I'm well enough to handle a couple of little kids. They still remember me from when they were younger. I can keep them in line," Mina reassured Blanc with another smile.

"If you're certain," Blanc relented and straightened. "I'll bring them by tomorrow morning." It would take her at least the rest of the day to get the two of them settled in.

"Thank you." Truth be told, Mina wanted to spend as much time with the two little ones as she could, to reassure herself that they were really here and safe.

As for Blanc, she wasn't going to deny Mina's request if it taught the two of them how to tell them difference between the good and the bad quicker. That was one thing that couldn't be taught too soon.

Blanc returned to her chair beside the bed. There was much she needed to do today still, such as check in on the twins, but that could all wait until Mina finished her meal and fell back asleep. She wasn't going to leave her alone while she was awake.

And after all that, she'd go to her vault to check on the Sharicite Crystal held therein. It should still be there, only her and Mina had access to it, but if the imposter had gotten in there somehow.

It was a slight fear that Blanc had, that the crystal was destroyed, or gone. She wouldn't toss the twins out if it was, they had already claimed a piece of her heart so they were definitely here to stay, but it would certainly make it more difficult to counter-act Planeptune's Nepgear. Rom and Ram could still be used to draw people to Lowee but it wouldn't be as effective as it would be if the two of them were CPU Candidates.

**x~X~x**

Noire sat in a small wooden chair with a pair of arm rests. She had one leg crossed over the other and had the last few reports of the day resting on her thigh. There wasn't anything out of the ordinary in them, which was a thankful relief to the dark haired CPU. She'd been through more than enough the past few weeks.

Before her was Uni, resting beneath the sheets of a large, elegant bed. The sheets were black and blue, of course, the colors of Lastation. This would be Uni's new room. This one singular room was larger than the combined footage of her old place, and had all the same amenities aside from a kitchen. There was even, a small personal bathroom for her use.

Noire had Kei make a personal trip to Uni's old place, along with a large number of helpers. What they had been able to salvage was now sitting in this room, and what had been destroyed, was replaced. There was a large LCD TV sitting on a brand new entertainment unit, complete with a large sound system and Lastation's latest console system. The entire wall to the right of the door was filled with wall mountings that held the entirety of Uni's gun collection. On a small night table beside the bed was the new rifle Uni had ordered.

There was a soft creak as the door opened up. Noire glanced up at Kei as the oracle quietly closed the door behind her. The white haired oracle quietly padded her way over to Noire's side, giving Uni a quick look before lifting an eyebrow at Noire in askance.

Noire shook her head slowly and gave the reports she had finished going over to Kei.

"Any news?" Noire asked her oracle, keeping her voice low and quiet so as to not disturb the sleeping Uni.

"Not yet," Kei whispered back, "but the search has just begun. We have aerial reconnaissance copters searching the surrounding area and I've sent patrols into the nearby zones to search for any sign of CFW Brave or the sharicite crystal. They'll work their way outwards from Lastation. It's slow, but meticulous. Nothing will escape our detection."

"Good work," Noire whispered quietly and nodded her head in satisfaction, "as expected of my Oracle." The black haired Goddess pointed at the reports she handed to Kei. "See to it that our encryption protocols are upgraded to two-hundred and fifty six bit encryptions. Most of our manufacturing plants are still using dated one-hundred and twenty-eight bit encryption keys. I don't want another Port Hole."

"I will get right on it," Kei assured her. She bowed her head to Noire and, with one last concerned look at Uni, made her way from the room to see to her orders.

"As for you…" Noire trailed off quietly as she turned back to regard her sleeping assistant. "How long are you going to keep sleeping?!" she grumped quietly to herself.

"I-I'm sorry!" Uni shouted and suddenly sat up in her bed, throwing her sheets away. There was a startled and panicked look on her face as her head whipped back and forth around the room. "W-Where am I?"

Noire cringed a little on the inside. She had not meant to make the poor girl wake up suddenly like that. Perhaps she had been a little hard on her these past few weeks. Of course she would never admit that to her, or anyone else, but she would make her take it easy for the next little bit.

"You're in your room, Uni," Noire said in a stern voice, "and what was up with that? Getting kidnapped by some random enemy. I expected better out of you!"

"L-Lady Noire?!" Uni almost jumped out of her bed in shock when her eyes landed upon her. Depression fell upon Uni, crushing her into a bowed position. "I'm sorry I failed you."

Noire kicked herself for being so harsh with her, even after deciding she'd go easy on her. "J-Just don't fail me again!" she said to her young assistant, "and you will be staying here at the Basilicom from now on."

There was a shocked look on Uni's face. "What?!"

"You heard me," Noire said to Uni, "I can't have my assistant living out in the outskirts of the city. It is a pain to walk all the way out there when I need to speak with you, so you're staying here from now on."

"You went to my place?" Uni said with a confused look on her face, as if she didn't know why Noire would bother.

"W-Well, it wasn't like I wanted to or was worried or anything," Noire said quickly, tumbling the words out one after another, "but as my assistant, I expect you to be here on time, all the time." She crossed her arms and waggled a finger at the young girl. "Don't think this will make your life easier! I'll expect better things from you in the future now that you're living here."

"Yes!" Uni assured her quickly.

"Oh!" Noire turned slightly and tapped the black case on the side table, "your order has arrived as well and the rest of your things have already been moved into…" she trailed off as Uni's eyes began to shimmer with dampness. "What's wrong?"

"I-I-It's n-nothing," Uni said brokenly as she turned away from Noire and furiously brushed her arms across her eyes.

Noire hesitated on what to do next. She wasn't an expert when it came to stuff like this, not that she would ever admit that. From Uni's perspective, her last memory must have been that of getting horrifically attacked and beaten by an enemy boss before being dragged out to who knows where for who knows what purpose. And then suddenly she's back in the Basilicom beside her, the greatest Goddess in Gamindustri.

Even Noire had to admit that would cause quite the shock to most people, and she had to remind herself Uni was still a child compared to her. She didn't have over two centuries of experience behind her like Noire did; she didn't even have two decades.

The hesitation didn't last long though. Awkwardly Noire pulled Uni into her embrace, placing the young girls face against her chest. She had seen NPC moms do this when their children were upset, so she thought that it must be somewhat helpful.

And it seemed to work.

Uni stiffened for a brief moment as shock hit her and then like a dam breaking, the floodgates of her eyes opened up. The young girl wrapped her arms around Noire and cried her heart out, releasing all the pain and fear and terror that she had experienced over the last few days.

Noire simply sat there, awkwardly patting and rubbing Uni's back like she had seen others do before. She would, of course, lecture Uni later on the necessity of keeping secrets. She certainly couldn't let this action of hers get out. There was a certain reputation she had to uphold after all.

But that would be a discussion for later, another day perhaps. For now, there was something more important than lecturing Uni on the proper way to be a CPU Candidate.

**x~X~x**

The mega villain known as Spybore looked up as two individuals entered the chamber. One was a small grey rat and the other was a tall, pasty-faced hag who seemed to be holding a hand to her stomach. He quickly tucked away the small red book he had been reading and turned to face the two of them.

CFW Judge wasn't with them, but he had heard about the explosion over in Leanbox so it was easy enough to guess what had happened to him. If he took out either Vert or Xone while self-destructing, all the better.

Too bad Arfoire hadn't died with him.

"Did you bring it?" Spybore asked in a bored tone of voice.

"Of course, chuu, I always finish my jobs, chuu!" Pirachu said as he waddled up to a chair near the round table. He clambered up the side of it and peeked over the edge of the table. A light green crystal appeared in his hands and he rolled it across the table to his boss.

Spybore stopped the crystal with one finger as it rolled near him. Picking it up he gave it a quick once over, just to make sure it wasn't a fake. Satisfied he set it next to him, beside another crystal that had come in earlier from the north. A pink and blue dual colored crystal that looked like a merging of two separate Sharicite crystals into one. A small smile cracked his rocklike face, "very good, this is definitely not a boring development. This is twice now you haven't been boring. I may not cook you once I'm done with you after all."

Pirachu shivered as a cold chill ran down his spine, "thank you, chuu." Not being cooked and eaten was a good thing in his books, something to be thankful of.

Arfoire scowled at hulking frame of Spybore, "You knew where the damn crystal was from the start." It wasn't a question so much as it was a statement.

"Of course, you could say… 'I' ordered it placed there, to keep it out of undesirable hands." It was true, technically, but at the same time it hadn't been him. That crystal was always there, without fail, regardless of dimension. It was one of those constants that stayed the same, unlike the CPU of Planeptune. Despite Histoire always surviving, in one form or another, the CPU she chose for Planeptune was never a sure thing. That was the single biggest variable in every dimension. Sometimes it was Neptune, sometimes Plutia, sometimes someone completely different.

Sometimes she didn't choose anyone at all.

And that didn't even begin to consider the method of the selection, which varied as much, if not more so, than the individuals chosen, ranging anywhere from deliberate choice to pure, random chance.

That was how the various dimensions had been divvied up between them, based on who Histoire choose for her CPU. He would normally be invading one of the numerous Plutia dimensions, but he had grown bored of her, it had been more boring than expected to break someone who was used to breaking others. And then his brother had suggested that he invade this one and Spybore could do nothing but accept.

Breaking someone as innocent and carefree as Neptune seemed like a far more interesting scenario to play out, but only time would tell. Unlike Plutia, you couldn't just walk up to Neptune and break her. She was already crazy and would simply take it in stride. He needed to use subtlety, undermine everything she cared about, and bring it down all at once. To get to Neptune, you had to attack that which she cared about, not her.

"If you knew where it was, why didn't you just get it your own damn self?" Arfoire snapped angrily. She had a hole in her stomach now because of the 'fetch quest' she had been sent out on. It angered her that she had to play second fiddle to anyone, it was even worse to have to take one for the team. There was no 'team' in her books, only her and the people she ordered around.

"What self-respecting super villain would do the dirty grunt work when he has plenty of…" his eyes bored into Arfoire's skull, making the super villainess take a fearful step backwards, "slaves to do his work for him?"

"I'm no one's damn slave!"

The super villain gave Arfoire a long, hard look. A cold, uncomfortable silence fell across the room. Soon a powerful presence began to crush the two villains standing on the far end of the table. It was a dark, evil, and absolutely merciless presence, one that had seen the absolute worst existence had to offer and enjoyed it. Even the light in the room began to shy away against the encroaching darkness.

Arfoire swallowed hard, taking a single, nervous step back and wondering if she had perhaps said too much. Her response had almost been automatic. After spending so much time at the top of the pile of villains in Gamindustri, commanding others had become second nature, and that nature had a habit of bubbling to the surface at the worst of times.

Suddenly the presence was gone and everything went back to normal. A wide grin cracked Spybore's face and he sat back a little. "You're quite right, you're too strong willed to be a good slave."

Arfoire didn't say anything as she eyed her boss warily. It was strange of him to admit something like that.

"You're someone who only knows how to stand on top of others." Arfoire had been like that in Plutia's dimensions as well.

The pasty-faced villain did not like where this was going. Her defenses went up and she slowly started to back from the table. She eyed the exit, wonder if she was fast enough to get to it before he got to her. It was doubtful, injured as she was, but she was going to try.

"Or—" Spybore stopped as a message arrived, appearing on a small console screen hidden just beneath the lip of the table where the others couldn't see. His smile disappeared the moment he read the contents of the message.

He glanced up at Arfoire and Pirachu, "you have one, final, chance to prove to me you're not boring," he said while staring straight into Arfoire's eyes.

Arfoire swallowed hard and nodded her head. This time keeping a tight rein on her impulsive speaking. It seemed something had drawn her back from the edge of the abyss and she didn't want to look back down there quite so soon.

"CFW Brave has… greatly bored me," Spybore said in a tone thick with disapproval. CFW Brave had one task, and one task alone, kill a weak girl over in Lastation, and he had failed. What's worse because of his blunder the CPU of Lastation now knew the full potential that lurked within her and would most certainly keep her closer than ever before. It would make things more difficult in the future. He could easily level Lastation and annihilate both of them in an instant, but that wasn't the point, he wanted to enjoy this, to have his boredom cured for a little while longer. Anyone could do simple slaughter; he liked to do things with a bit more panache.

But there was no room in his slaves for those that disobey orders.

"Kill him."

* * *

**A/N:** I know there hasn't been much Neptune and Nepgear in the past few chapters, but they make a return next chapter and are in every chapter afterwards. Wanted to build up the other CPUs while there was a lull with Neptune and Nepgear.


	13. The Fate of the Fallen

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hyperdimension Neptunia. All characters, thoughts and ideas that exist in this story that were taken from the original works belong to their creators, Compile Heart and Idea Factory. Only original thoughts and or characters created in this story are my own.**

**A/N: **You may notice something odd, a return to the future/past/alternate/whatever. I normally space them out, and originally I did. But oddly enough people seemed to have enjoyed that element of the story. When I first started this, I figured it'd be the opposite. The one in the last chapter was actually the last one I had (technically speaking of course), since by that time enough background had been given to make sense of why events are unfolding during the core story.

But I've decided to go ahead and add one last one set of scenes and they kind of need to be right at the start of this chapter since it actually gives some background on events IN this chapter. Don't worry; it's not coming at the expense of the actual chapter. The chapter was already done when I decided to go back add this. It's pure addition.

**Chapter 13: The Fate of the Fallen**

**At some point in time either in the past or future, somewhere that may or may not be the current Gamindustri…**

There was a dark look on Neptune's face as she sat behind her desk, staring across the tent at her General. Her final General, the rest had been killed in the Viral War or in the ambush set up by Green Heart and White Heart. He was smartly dressed, wearing a deep purple overcoat the same color that Neptune's hair had once been over a white button-up shirt and matching pants.

"Lady Purple Heart, I must insist that you give the men some time to rest," the General pleaded with her. His voice came out grating and annoying, making the words coming from his mouth sound even more irritating than they would have otherwise. "After that battle with Lowee, we have more injured than not."

Neptune frowned, drumming her finger tips off the arm of her chair. "The last time I agreed to 'wait and recover' I was betrayed from within and ambushed by Lowee while dealing with Leanbox." The fingers stopped. Neptune leaned forward. "Only Blanc remains a threat now, Vert is comatose and Rom is injured. If we wait to recoup our wounds, it gives them the opportunity to do the same."

"I know, Lady Purple Heart," her General said, bowing his head respectfully, "but you're the only one still capable of fighting. The men, your army, there's nothing left in them. Our supplies are used up, the medicine is all but gone, and we still have a number of captured Leanbox and Lowee soldier's to oversee. You simply do not have enough forces left to invade Lowee. There isn't even enough to properly encircle the city."

The frown on her face deepened and she pushed herself to her feet.

He did have a point, as much as she did not want to hear those words. It irked her greatly but even a quick fly over the encampment, what was left of it anyways, had been enough to put weight behind his words. She couldn't kill him as a result. Truth was not something to be punished for, and he was still loyal. She could feel the faith flowing from him into her.

She made her way around the desk and up to the General. "You are right about our current forces but we should be able to bolster them. Force the captured soldiers of Leanbox and Lowee to fight for us, conscription of the common folk, forced breeding programs."

The General trembled in fear as she stopped beside him. Swallowing hard he continued in a broken voice. "The captured soldiers won't fight against their own people. It would take more time to break them than it would take for our forces to recover. Conscription could work, but without training, they're little more than human shields. Breeding programs would take years to provide a viable force."

Her frown turned into a scowl. Insubordination coupled with backtalk, but wrapped in enough truth that she couldn't strike him. She still needed someone to lead the troops now that Falcom and UbiSlyph were gone.

She reached out and touched his cheek. "There must be some way, my dear General, to mobilize a force quickly enough to lay siege to Lowee before White Heart's forces have recovered."

His trembling became worse. "I-I'm sorry, Lady Purple—"

She gripped his face, her fingers burrowed through his flesh. "That, General, is not what I want to hear."

A strange, warm sensation started to build within the pit of Neptune's stomach. It was a familiar sensation, one that oddly brought with it a sense of joy and victory. The General's eyes latched onto her chest as the sensation rose, his eyes following it as it travelled through her shoulder, down her arm and into her hand.

It was a dark purple surge of energy, laced with red and green streaks of unknown energy.

Neptune smiled.

It entered the General.

His body jerked violently and then started to spasm uncontrollably. His mouth opened wide in a soundless scream, as if his body was wracked by an indescribable pain. And then he started to change. His went black, his skin darkened, his hair grew thick and hard. His fingers twisted and warped, become claw like mockeries of their former selves. Bones snapped, ligaments tore, and muscles ripped as his body was rearranged, transforming itself into a hulking monstrosity that could no longer be called human and only vaguely resembled a bipedal creature.

"We have a number of soldiers from Lowee and Leanbox that we captured, do we not?" Neptune purred softly as she gazed lovingly at the incredible transformation.

"We do, Mistress." The voice too was a mockery of what it had once been. Now it sounded like two rocks grinding together.

It was over now.

Neptune was fully assimilated. Those tiny little screams of horror and grief that had once echoed in the deepest parts of her mind were no more.

Being within this CPU had given her what she needed to evolve once more. Each and every denizen of Gamindustri held a tiny fragment of the first Goddess, the True Goddess, within them. It had protected them from viral infections. But no longer. The CPUs were the link, the halfway point between denizen and not. With Neptune fully consumed, she could now infect all aspects of Gamindustri. No one was safe from the virus.

No one.

Not even the land itself!

"I believe I will pay them a visit now."

She would have her army, an army unlike anything this dimension had ever seen. Lowee will be ashes by the end of the month.

**~o~**

By the time Code found Neptune's encampment it had undergone a tremendous transformation. The General hadn't just been viral, but incredibly virulent as well. With each person he touched, the virus spread and they themselves became new carriers capable of spreading the virus.

Everyone in the encampment was infected now, a twisted mockery of what they had once been. The captured soldiers that had once been faithful to Vert and Blanc, now worshiped Neptune, their faith as twisted as the malformed shapes they scurried about on the ground. Runners, misshapen creatures with five legs and two tails, had been sent out far and wide into the country side, to spread the gift that Neptune was spreading.

Even the land itself had changed. The trees were blackened, the bark like onyx and the leaves now a sickly grey with red pulsating veins. The land itself had become a quivering black mass of something words weren't capable of describing. When Code touched down upon it outside Neptune's tent his boots sank several inches into it. It felt like spongy flesh. The corrupted ground felt unnervingly like home to Code, all it lacked was the screams that rose up with each step or the putrid puss that filled the prints left behind by his boots.

Code entered the tent and quickly glanced around. The blackened ground continued even inside. By contrast the furnishings still looked normal, standard chair behind desk and a small bed for Neptune, which she was currently resting upon, her messy tangled mass of purple-green hair spilling about her ashen form. All of her standard CPU gear had been unequipped leaving her only in her bodysuit. "Yo! Neptune, how's it going?" Code called out cheerfully as he entered the tent.

Neptune shot up in bed. When her eyes met his they widened in surprise and love?

"Code!" Neptune shouted in surprise. She was off the bed and across the room in an instant. Before Code could even register that she had moved, she had her arms around his neck and her lips pressed firmly against his. "You're alive! How?!" She asked as breathlessly when she broke the kiss.

"The Viral Behemoth Prime ate me in a single bite," Code said and chuckled, "probably only thing that saved my life really. It was rather unpleasant getting dissolved, but I had enough healing medicine to survive. Sorry it took me so long to cut my way out of it. You know how stubborn those things can be."

"Yes," she said breathlessly, "anything created by you would be strong." She gave him another loving kiss.

Code broke the kiss and gave her a curious look. "Neptune?" he asked cautiously. She shouldn't have known that he had created the Viral Behemoth Prime.

"Yes, master?"

Master?

Uh oh.

"You're not just Neptune, are you?" Code asked, fishing for confirmation of what he already suspected.

Neptune rubbed her nose against his and smiled, "I am Ultimate Neptune, the combination of your wonderful creation with what I used to be. This virus you placed in me, oh Master, it's so wonderful. I should have asked you to infect me years ago. I have never felt this alive before!" She kissed him again. "I abused you before, used your love for me without reciprocating it. Well, I won't make that mistake again. For giving me all this wonder and joy, I will give you the same. Just ask, and it is yours."

There was a smoky, lustful look in her eyes now. With the way she was pressing her body into his, there was little doubt in his mind what she meant by that. His Histoire had been right, Neptune would be willing to give him her all, but not for the reason Histoire had suspected. Neptune was a blank slate; she had no Ego, not before at least. She did now, but it was one formed from the virus that infected her. The Ego was colored by Neptune, but it was still something else entirely.

The Neptune he had known and come to love was dead and gone.

Code placed a finger on her lips before she could kiss him again. "Not now, let's save it for the victory party. I believe I heard that there are still a few CPUs left alive?" Whispers had been carried upon the wind to his ears, talks about renewed attacks upon Lowee and the few CPUs that remained.

"I'd much rather talk about something more pleasant than that," Ultimate Neptune said, burrowing her face into his neck.

"I know, but duty before pleasure, it's always been the way of things," Code said, "with you as you are now," he glanced at stared at her beautiful viral form, "I doubt they'll easily let you into Lowee. I can though, they'd still trust me."

"What are you suggesting, Master?" Ultimate Neptune asked, looking up at him curiously.

"Give me Gehaburn, and I'll make it complete," Code said simply. "With Rom and Vert out of commission as they are, the only threat is Blanc. They'll let me in, lower their guard. The moment Blanc turns her back, I kill her. Then I will murder Rom and Vert in their sleep. After that you can raze Lowee to the ground with this army, set yourself up as the supreme ruler of Gamindustri and then we will have all the time in Gamindustri to explore each other in depth."

Ultimate Neptune trembled with excitement in his grasp as her arousal filled the air. "Oh Master, you really do know how to make a woman feel good." She stepped back and held her hand out. The unfinished Gehaburn blade appeared in her outstretched hand.

Code felt a little guilty taking advantage of her trust like this, but he had to remember, this wasn't Neptune.

This was his mistake.

If it had been anyone else, she probably would have simply killed or infected them. However the virus recognized him as its original creator. Saw him for the monster he truly was. Felt the kindred spirit inside him. This new Neptune owed him her very existence, and she trusted him explicitly as a result. Like a child trusting his or her parents.

And he was going to betray that trust.

He accepted the blade from her and held it up to look over. "You've been quite busy I see," Code murmured as he sensed the various CPUs inside the blade.

"I have," Ultimate Neptune agreed, rubbing her face against his shoulder. "I wanted to make sure Nepgear had lots of company."

Code nodded, "and she most certainly does." He gave Ultimate Neptune an honest smile. "I promise you I will do whatever it takes to give her the companionship she deserves."

Ultimate Neptune smiled up at him. "I trust you."

That was one thing she could trust him with. He was going to give Nepgear all the companionship she deserved, one way or another.

"I shall return once I have added Blanc and the other CPUs to this," Code lied to Ultimate Neptune. It was so easy to lie, he'd been lying ever since he was born.

Ultimate Neptune grinned, it was a vicious, evil grin. "I can't wait, please record the looks on their faces as you murder them."

"I will."

Code stepped outside of the tent and paused as some random NPCs, little more than grey outlines, were dragged kicked and screaming through the encampment by a shambling horror. Their destination more than likely one of the numerous 'conversion' facilities designed to force people to worship Neptune. In the distance, in the ruins of Lastation, Code could see the beginnings of an enormous statue being built, an effigy to Ultimate Neptune.

This had to be changed. It was bringing back bad memories of his childhood.

He took to the air and shot off towards the north.

"Looks like I need to switch to Plan C," Code murmured quietly as the land sped past him.

"Kill the CPUs and live happily ever after with Neptune?" Histoire asked as she flew out from under his clothes and took a seat on his shoulder.

"Don't make me beat you," Code retorted absentmindedly. "If the virus had not fully taken over, I could have cured her." That had been Plan A. "Plan B was if it had just been Neptune, I could have grabbed a Neptune from an alternate dimension, injected the cure inside her, and forcefully merged her with my Neptune. However with the land itself changing… that's no longer a feasible option. Even if Neptune is cured, the land will never recover. So it's on to Plan C."

He needed to stop this before it even began. That was the only recourse, the only path left open. This timeline was doomed no matter what anyone did. It was time for a change.

"Just saying, you could stay with her," Histoire said, "I know you don't entirely disapprove of this new Neptune. I distinctly felt your arousal." She opened and closed her fingers suggestively.

"That's Plan D."

"Oh."

If nothing worked then it would be his responsibility to at least comfort this Neptune as much as possible. And do what he could to prevent it from spreading to any other dimension.

**x~X~x**

Blanc let out a long sigh as she leaned back against the high upholstered chair in the medical ward. The white wash walls were comforting to her, but she could have done without the sterile smell or the constant beeping of machines. Beside her, sleeping deeply beneath a set of clean white sheets, was her little sister, Rom. The left side of her face was covered in bandages.

Rom would survive, but a full recovery was impossible. The ice that had torn into her face had been laced with trace energies of Neptune's viral infection. While they had been able to remove the virus from Rom, the damage done by it was irreversible. She had lost her eye and her face was now badly scarred. The worst part about it was that the damage had translated into her human form as well.

She still had her life however, and for that Blanc was thankful. Rom was in a medically induced coma while the worst of the damage healed, but the doctors had said she should be well enough to wake up within the week.

Blanc's eyes flicked over to the wall that separated this room from the neighbouring one where Vert rested.

That one was a lost cause.

Vert was in a coma as well, only it wasn't medically induced. She had lost ninety-eight percent of her worshippers in an instant and if the reports coming in from outside were anything to go on, she was losing more every day. Neptune seemed to spend a few hours each day hunting down the remnants of Vert's naval fleet, the last bastion of her followers.

If they didn't make it to Lowee's waters soon the chances of Vert surviving were slim. Even if they did, the chances of her ever waking up were even slimmer.

The soft creak of the door caused her to glance that way. Her eyes widened in surprise when someone she never expected to see again walked inside.

"Code!"

"Yo!" Code said cheerfully, waving the unfinished Gehaburn towards her.

Her eyes fixated on that and a cold fear started to develop in the pit of her stomach. "Why do you have that?" She pointed at the sword. That had been with Neptune. It was impossible to take it from her unless she was either dead, or had willingly given it.

And Code would never kill Neptune. Code had fought as hard as any of them to stop the Viral War, but it had always been for Neptune, not for Gamindustri. He had made that quite clear, and his actions had backed it up.

If Neptune hadn't considered them her friends, he never would have bothered to save them from the situations they'd found themselves in.

Which was why Code being here with Gehaburn in his hands was a very bad thing. If Neptune had ordered him to kill Blanc and the rest…

She hurled herself from the chair, placing herself between Rom and Code. Her battle hammer was summoned to her hands and held at the ready. "Don't think I'll just lie down and let you kill me!" She was stronger and tougher than Code, but he was faster. While she couldn't beat him, she could easily survive long enough for the commotion to draw in the others, specifically UbiSlyph who could match him step for step.

"Whoa, whoa!" Code said as he waved his hands before him quickly, it looked odd while handling Gehaburn. He stared at it and chuckled sheepishly before tossing the blade towards her. "I was going to joke around but I guess this isn't really the appropriate time."

Blanc dropped the head of the hammer to the white tile floor and caught the blade with her free hand. "Don't scare me like that," Blanc said softly, letting the dread fade away. "Why are you here?"

"I love Neptune, but you already know that," Code said softly, his eyes shifted past her to her sister sleeping on the bed behind her. "But that thing isn't Neptune anymore. It's simply the virus now. It's colored by Neptune, but still little more than a virus. That's not what I want, that's not what I'm loyal to."

Blanc let out a long sigh of relief and the tension in her body, tension she hadn't known she'd been carrying, drained out. "I see, that is good." It made sense. "Why do you have this?" she asked, holding up Gehaburn. Even now she could feel the presence of the CPUs it had consumed.

Although for some reason Nepgear appeared to be missing, either that or she had been in there for so long she was no longer distinguishable.

"I'm going to change things, Blanc," Code said softly. "I'm going to go back in time and stop this from ever happening." He gestured to the sword in her hands. "The Gehaburn stores the souls of the CPUs that it kills, or are killed near it. I can pull them out and place the soul within a Sharicite Crystal, or something very similar to it if the crystal is destroyed, but…"

"It requires a host to bring them back," Blanc finished for him. "You intend to go back in time and restore the CPU Candidates so that they have the knowledge and skill to prevent this." She gestured to the window and the outside world.

It wasn't possible to do the same for the CPUs, they were all hundreds of years old and they hadn't all appeared at the same time like the CPU Candidates had.

"Yes," he pulled out a small disc that looked as if it had been made from Sharicite crystals. "I know Histoire already has Nepgear's Sharicite crystal, so I won't be able to infuse Nepgear into it, she won't let anyone near it. But I don't need to either. While I can't remake the crystal itself, I can make something similar. I've already placed Nepgear inside this. Now I just need to go back and find Nepgear before Histoire does."

"Won't Histoire be suspicious?"

If Nepgear were to appear and Histoire still had her Sharicite shard…

"True, I'll probably need to find some way of dealing with that."

"I see." She tossed the Gehaburn back to Code. "You won't be able to do that for Rom and Ram."

"I know," Code said, glancing past her again to Rom. "Even if I did add Rom, without Ram, it's pointless."

Thinking of Ram caused a sharp stinging pain to appear in her heart. Ram had died in the middle of the Viral War, killed by the viral monsters as she sacrificed herself to buy time for the other CPU candidates to evacuate Leggo Island. There was no bringing her back.

"And I don't even know how to begin with Vert's little sister," Code added. No one knew how Vert obtained her little sister. Both were very tight lipped about what happened. And any mention of that missing arm caused Vert to get violent.

"When do you leave?" Blanc asked.

A scream pierced the air before Code could respond, causing both of them to jump in surprise. A moment later a nurse burst into the room.

"Lady White Heart, quick! Something is wrong with Lady Green Heart!"

"Shit," Code cursed as he turned and shot past the nurse into the hallway.

Blanc was on his heels, racing from the room, down the hallway, and into Vert's room. She came to a stop when she reached Vert's side and stared. Vert was thrashing on the bed as four nurses futilely tried to hold her down. Even weakened and comatose she was still far stronger than the four of them combined.

"Oh no," Blanc said softly as she saw what was happening to Vert.

"Should have expected this," Code said bitterly, "ever since Leanbox fell, it was possible."

Vert's beautiful blond hair was starting to stain a light green, their straight threads twisting and curling. Thick dark lines were crawling beneath her skin as something putrid started to work its way through her system, moving from the core of her body outwards.

"Her Share Crystal, the Goddess Crystal of Leanbox…" Blanc said softly.

"Neptune is infecting it," Code said. "She's attacking Vert directly from Leanbox."

There was only one thing they could do for Vert now.

Blanc activated her HDD, enveloping herself in her power. "Move out of the frickin way!" Blanc barked at the nurses as she lifted her weapon which had now transformed into an enormous futuristic axe.

They moved quickly.

"Are you sure?" Code asked.

"Of course I'm not frickin sure but I'm not letting thunder tits go viral not ten god damn feet from my little sister!" Blanc snapped angrily at Code. Inside however she felt sick to her stomach. As much as she and Vert had bickered over the years, Blanc had come to enjoy her company. "And thunder tits would rather be dead than viral, I know that."

Code nodded and said nothing more.

Blanc swallowed hard and steeled her emotions. She was set on this course of action. "Sorry Vert, but I know you would have preferred this," Blanc said and swung. The axe howled through the air. There was no resistance as the axe tore through Vert's body, cleaving her and the bed in half. Blood fountained across the room, painting the white washed room red. The thrashing stopped as the CPU of Leanbox died.

"Damn it!" Blanc shouted angrily and hurled her axe across the room. "Her life should have felt heavier than that!" It had been almost too easy to kill her, there had been absolutely no resistance.

Code laid a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Perhaps she knew what was happening to her, and what you were doing for her. The Vert I know would have jiggled her breasts at least twice, even in that state."

Blanc deactivated her HDD and allowed a soft smile to cross her lips. "Perhaps you're right." She shot him a grateful smile, "you need to go, now."

"I will, and you need to be careful, shore up your defenses," Code said as he stepped back from her. "Neptune is raising a viral army the likes this dimension has never seen. The walls of Lowee won't hold out against such a force."

"I know," Blanc said, "we've seen the reports. Star and Ocean think they have a solution. They'll buy us enough time for you to change things. Just don't frickin fail, you hear me?"

He gave her a smile, "I won't. For Neptune's sake."

And with that said the air around him warped, like it was stretching, elongating. Then Code was pulled through what appeared to be a tiny pin-prick in reality, and was gone.

Blanc sighed and turned from the dimensional rift. She didn't know how Code could do what he did, but anything was better than what was to come. Making her way over to her large hammer she tucked it back into her inventory and glanced out the window.

Lowee, her nation. She would fight until the bitter end, and rest her hopes on Code being able to change things.

**x~X~x**

"Whew, I wasn't quite sure that'd actually work, but it seems we are back in time," Code said as he glanced around the jungle forest he was in. He recognized this zone, Gallia Forest. It was the place he had first entered this dimension.

He knew it prior to then because his first act upon arrival was to turn this place in a viral nesting ground. Yet there were no signs of that here and now. Hopefully he didn't end up too far back, otherwise he would have a long wait ahead of him.

"How do you know we're back?"

"Because the forest isn't viral."

"Oh ya, I remember that that now."

"Plus in our time it's little more than a smoking crater. Neptune turned the Nep Satellite on it once the infestation and become all encompassing."

Histoire nodded, "I remember that too. I also recall that tear that slid down her cheek as she obliterated the fairy village."

"A quick death is better than what they would have been forced to endure."

"Depends on point of view."

"True."

"So what's first?"

"First… is changing the final boss, defeating Arfoire won't make Neptune and the others powerful enough to deal with the Viral War when it arrives."

Histoire gave him a confused look. "Didn't _you_ start the Viral War? Why the fuck would you need them to get strong enough to defeat it if… oh, right. That smelly piece of shit, Rootkid."

The Viral War had continued even after he had abandoned it precisely because it had been taken over by another. Even if Code didn't infect this dimension, Rootkid would eventually return to begin again what Code had started before.

"Yes, and to help make them strong enough not to get instantaneously gibbed when they clash…" Code tapped his foot off the platform. "Perhaps I can tweak this dungeon, just a little, ramp up the difficult, add a special final boss and some unique events… shouldn't be too difficult to lure Neptune and the others out here."

It was time to start changing things. The more he changed, the greater the difference in the future.

**x~X~x**

**Back in the present day…**

**In a place that is the same Gamindustri as the previous scene…**

"So this is it," IF said as she looked around the beach they were on.

It was a beautiful beach, as far as they went, a perfect combination of white sand and darker clay with a gentle incline into crystal blue water. It stretched for as far as the eye could see in either direction and on approach IF had noticed it actually ringed the entire island. The only detraction, which wasn't visible from there low vantage point, were the odd ship wrecks that dotted the beach in various places.

There had been some rather large sea monsters in the water below them as they flew over the sea, in this remote area that wasn't particularly strange.

Neither was the enormous jungle that spread out before them. The further away from the centers of power one went, the more wild and dangerous the land became. Thankfully the massive jungle zone was considered a legitimate zone: Gallia Forest. There was a long ramp near them at the end of the beach leading up to a large platform hovering twenty feet above the ground.

They were on an island in the furthest reaches of Planeptune. Far to the west where few people lived and the strongest monsters roamed. The average level here was level fifty, which meant they should have no issues with the monsters on account of Nepgear's and Neptune's levels.

That still irked IF whenever she thought about it. That Leviathan Mk-I they had fought and beaten out in the sea between Leanbox and Planeptune had catapulted Neptune past her level wise. The CPU of Planeptune was now firmly level seventy-one while her little sister, Nepgear, was a staggering ninety-nine.

Nepgear wouldn't talk about how she had gotten so strong, so quickly. She simply blushed and quickly tried to change the subject whenever it was brought up. From that reaction it was obvious that it was some embarrassing method and after being around individuals like Compa, Neptune and Neverlan, she quickly found herself not wanting to know.

"It is," Neptune said as she set IF on her feet down on the sandy white beach.

Beside her Nepgear did the same with Falcom. Neptune and Nepgear had flown out here carrying the two of them. Compa was back in Planeptune, helping Histoire out. As much as they all wanted her to come along, she was too low level for this zone, and getting out here in a timely manner would have been difficult if they had to walk.

With the average monster level being level fifty, it was just right for Falcom and IF who were level fifty-seven and fifty-six respectively.

"Gallia Forest," Falcom said as she eyed the dark jungle zone ahead of them, "this is a newly discovered zone, just popped up a few years ago. Not many people have had the chance to explore it yet." The red-haired adventuress shrugged her shoulders lightly, "to be honest, no one has actually made it out of it alive, its high level requirement is a deterrent against most exploration parties and the rest were beaten and forced to respawn before they cleared it."

"And Neverlan, Otome and Mate are in there somewhere," IF said as she eyed the forest suspiciously. "Since they haven't respawned they must still be alive, possibly stuck in a trap."

"That's… very likely," Falcom said and large sweat drops rolled down the back of IF's and Falcom's head.

"Well, let's go fish them out of yet another trap they've found themselves stuck in," IF said in a resigned voice.

IF adjusted her oversized coat on her shoulders and checked her gear one last time. Her weapons were there, including a couple back up spares, and a host of healing and energy restoring items. She trusted Falcom to have the same on her. When traveling into a new, unknown dungeon, it was always best to come prepared.

Especially since she had a feeling that Neptune had not, and Nepgear was a little too green around the ears to be expected to be properly prepared. She shook her head and chased that thought from it. Nepgear wasn't green around the ears, IF had to remember that. The Gear she knew was only seventeen, this Nepgear was something different, someone from the future.

She always had a cheerful expression on her face, but she was someone who had seen far more, and far worse, than IF ever had. Her traumatic reaction to Noire and the pain that lurked just behind those happy, carefree eyes bespoke experience far beyond the normal.

"Let's go sis!" Nepgear looked and sounded so happy. A pillar of light engulfed Nepgear for a brief moment and she was back into her human form. "It's a new dungeon to explore."

"Yes it is," Neptune said as she returned Nepgear's smile.

"You should revert to your human form, Neptune," IF said to her friend, "to conserve your energy for when you really need it."

"Really?" Neptune asked curiously. She lifted her arms and turned them over, eyeing them carefully, "I don't feel any particular drain."

"Just revert, Nep." IF never thought she'd prefer the ditzy Neptune to her adult form, but it was just a little too strange seeing Neptune prefer to be an adult. It just didn't feel like Neptune.

Neptune didn't seem to mind though and gave IF a tolerate smile, "I suppose I should." A pillar of purple light engulfed Neptune as she began the process to undo her transformation. IF and the others waited patiently for the transformation to come undone.

And waited.

And waited.

"Uh… Neptune?" IF spoke up as the purple pillar of light continued to rotate around Neptune's form without any signs of abating. "You can stop joking around."

"Ah hah… this is odd," Neptune's adult voice came from the rotating pillar of light.

"Sis?" Nepgear called out fearfully, causing IF to shoot her a concerned look. She was terrified for some reason. IF could see real fear in her eyes and the nervous sweat breaking out on her face.

"Stop the transformation, Nep," IF said quickly. "It's not that important."

"No, I think I got it," Neptune's voice came to them, sounding closer to her younger self. "Almost and…"

The pillar of light shattered. A violent explosion rippled outwards from the epicenter, lifting IF from her feet and hurling her several feet through the air. She let out a painful gasp as she landed harshly on the soft sand, digging a small, shallow trench as her body slid across the beach.

IF laid there stunned for a brief moment. That was not normal, something strange had just happened. She hurriedly pushed herself to her feet and looked around. Falcom was busy pulling herself out of her own trench a ways to her right. On her left Nepgear was still standing, a barrier raised between her and the explosion. IF marveled for a moment at her reflexes if she managed to erect a defense quickly enough to block the explosion, she had been the closest of them all.

However the strangest thing of all was Neptune. The CPU of Planeptune was sitting at the base of a small crater in the beach, her legs splayed out behind her to either side. She was staring at herself as if she didn't recognize her own body.

And IF couldn't blame her, she didn't either. She was not the same childish looking Neptune as before. While not as tall as she was in her CPU form, she was close. She was taller than Nepgear now, with most of that increase being in her legs. Her purple hair was much longer as well, the long bangs were still there but the rest of her hair continued on down to her waist. Her outfit was changed as well. Gone were the thigh high socks and childish boots. Instead now she wore a pair of dark, open front laceless boots with purple trimming and no socks at all, leaving her legs entirely bare save for a small pouch buckled to her left thigh. Her hoodie was still the same, although it had taken on a darker palette like her boots, black material with purple trimming and accents. It was larger now as well, to accommodate a bust size that had gone beyond her normal A cup size to a solid, upper B. The rest of her accessories had changed color palette as well, to match her hoodie and boots.

If IF had to sum it up simply, it was as if Neptune's human form had gone through puberty and changed her clothes to match.

"Nep?" IF called out cautiously, not sure what to make of this new development. She wasn't surprised, she wasn't quite sure she could be surprised anymore, but she needed to know if Neptune was alright.

Neptune stopped staring at herself and looked up at IF. She blinked once and tilted her head, throwing a cheeky smile at her, "Look Iffy! I grew up!" The bubbly girl said in a voice a bit more mature than her normal childish voice. She cupped her newly developed breasts. "I'm so going to rub these in Blanc's face when I meet her next."

Three long sighs of relief were let out in tandem. IF shared startled, but relieved, looks with Falcom and Nepgear. Despite the change in Neptune's appearance, Neptune was still Neptune, and that made everything alright.

"Do you know what happened?" IF asked Neptune. Even if her personality was still the same, if there were issues with Neptune's transformation, they need to know.

Neptune staggered to her feet and wobbled, seeming unused to her longer legs. "I dunno, it was like my HDD just got a clingy like that expired jello last month and wouldn't let go and stuff. And then all of a sudden, POW! I have this new curvy body!" She traced the outline of her body with her hands for emphasis.

"Perhaps you should stay out of HDD for now," IF said as she eyed Neptune's new body. She fought down that twinge of jealousy that tried to worm its way into her mind. She would not be jealous of Neptune's long legs and now significantly larger bust. "At least until we get back to Planeptune, maybe Histoire knows what's going on. Maybe she can reverse it." So that IF wouldn't feel quite so outclassed.

"Maybe, but not until I rub these in Blanc's face!" Neptune said mischievously as she cupped her breasts again, "I bet she'll pop her top! Nep Jr., I want you to take pictures."

Nepgear frowned at Neptune sternly and waggled her finger at her now taller, older looking sister. "That's not very nice, sis."

"Ah don't worry about it," Neptune said, waving off Nepgear. She turned to face the Gallia Forest dungeon and smirked at it, placing her fists on her hips as if staring down a boss monster. "Let's tally ho my faithful side-kicks! And let's do battle with whatever beasties and boss monsters await us inside!"

"At least she hasn't changed much," Falcom said with some relief. IF agreed, even if she looked different on the outside, she was still the same on the inside. They watched as Neptune marched past them like a soldier in a marching parade.

"Wait up sis!" Nepgear called out to Neptune and quickly caught up to her sister.

IF just shook her head and quickly followed after the two CPUs. Falcom fell into step behind her. "Just remember we're here to find out what happened to Neverlan, Otome and Mate, not to have fun."

Neptune waved back at her over her shoulder, "we can do both! Race you there!" and with that she bolted across the sand for the dungeon entrance.

And promptly tripped over her own legs. She tumbled head over heels a few times before she finally stopped on her back, staring up into the sky with a dizzy expression on her face.

"Sis!"

Neptune shook the swirlies from her eyes and looked up at them from her upside down position. She smiled apologetically. "Owie, still not used to having long, luscious legs."

IF had to fight down another surge of jealousy.

"Nep, just get up," IF muttered to her and stomped past her prone form.

"Whoa, what crawled up Iffy's panties?" Neptune asked as she was pulled to her feet with Nepgear's help.

"Nothing!" IF said shortly and stomped her way up the ramp into the jungle forest, officially entering the dungeon.

"Don't mind IF, Neptune," IF heard Falcom say to her friend. "She's just jealous you have a better body than her now."

"Aw! Really?!" Neptune said in a cheerful voice, causing IF to twitch violently. There was the patter of feet behind her and before she could turn around Neptune pounced on her from behind, wrapping her arms around her neck. "Is Iffy all jealous of my new bodacious bod? It's alright Iffy, I'll share it with you too!"

IF could feel Neptune's breasts pressing into her back, that just didn't seem right considering the thick material of her hoodie. That caused her to become even more irritated. "Gah!" IF snapped and shrugged Neptune off her back, "let's just get this over with and get back to Planeptune so Histoire can return you to normal."

"IF, Sis, Falcom," Nepgear said, her voice was oddly cold and hard, very unlike the normal bubbly Nepgear they'd known up until now. Nepgear had moved on ahead while IF and Neptune were bickering. "We need to be very careful in here."

"What is it, my cute little sister?" Neptune asked as she rushed up beside Nepgear. "It's a little dark inside but nothing our brilliance can't light up!"

Brilliance and Neptune were two things that did not go hand-in-hand. "What's wrong Gear?" IF asked as she finished ascending the ramp. The forest beyond really was darker than the average dungeon, but it wasn't as bad as the underground caves. So long as they finished before nightfall, there really wouldn't be any issues.

"These monsters aren't just level fifty, they're viral," Nepgear hissed as she glared angrily at a group of monsters wandering around on the next platform. "The entire forest is viral!"

"Ah don't worry, a monster is a monster! We'll beat them all easy-peasy!" Neptune said without a care in the world as she patted Nepgear on the shoulder.

Unlike Neptune, IF realized what Nepgear was getting at, and why she was so worked up. Monster's usually became viral during battle, if they were hurt or agitated enough. These monsters were viral to begin with, and didn't look like any of the monsters IF was familiar with. However the most unnerving fact wasn't the viral monsters. "Nep, it's not just the monsters, the forest is viral as well." The trees on the edge of the jungle were fine, but the further in one went, the sicker they became.

"But that won't stop us right?" Neptune said, whirling around to give IF a wide smile. "Let's just go beat up some monsters, rescue our beloved damsels in distress and return to Planeptune triumphantly like conquering heroines to a large bowl of pudding!"

And thus began their trek through Gallia Forest. They made their way through the forest dungeon, clearing each platform of viral monsters, looting all the object containers and harvesting whatever materials they could before moving onto the next. Despite the fact that level of the zone was rated for fifty plus, it was significantly harder due to the viral infections that raged through the monsters in the place. A normal monster, when a virus overcame them, would find their stats boosted by fifty percent and their hit points almost doubled.

They could still be dealt with relatively easily as their attack patterns didn't change. They just took less damage and dealt more in return. Good strategy, proper breaking of their guards and the right combos at the right time were generally enough to defeat them as easily as their non-viral counterparts. Unfortunately since all of these monsters were new to IF and everyone else they didn't know what skills to watch out for, the area their strikes covered, what their attack patterns were like and what caused them to shift aggro.

Correction, none of them save Nepgear, IF noted, as she watched the supposedly younger woman easily evade the viral monster she was fighting and dispatch it with a single strike. While her level essentially assured that there was little these monsters could do to the CPU Candidate, her movements were too fluid, too sure, for someone who was fighting something for the first time.

And the look in her eyes as she cut them down did not belong. There was real hatred in them, personal hatred, as if they were personally responsible for some past tragedy that she had been forced to live through.

Some of the techniques that Nepgear used were foreign to IF as well. Some of them were classic. Her Mirage Dance was a standard, simple five hit strike that was useful against any creature, the Slash Wave, a linear shockwave strike that crushed everything above it, and her Panzer Blade was a stronger version of her Mirage Dance that sacrificed elegance for power. All three of these abilities wouldn't have looked out of place anywhere.

It was the other ones that sent a chill down IF's spine. IF watched as Nepgear used an attack called The Annihilation Dance on a strange, hulking monster with four arms where she used her speed and incredible situational awareness to slip inside a monster's guard and strike their core in a single blow. It was an instant kill attack with a high percentage chance of causing the death status effect. Whenever she came across a monster with arms that used them as a means to attack, this was her go to attack.

Then there was her next attack, Critical Wave. This one was used against bulbous monstrosities. She hit the monster from five different directions at the same time with five attacks that looked similar to the Slash Wave. She followed it up by striking from above just at the exact moment the five crushing attacks converged on the viral monster. This six strike technique also came with an instant death effect, one that had six chances to strike home, one for each hit.

These were specialized attacks designed for enemies one couldn't afford to spend more than a few moments on. As if you were forced to move on after a single strike because the situation didn't allow you to spend any more attention than that.

If IF's suspicion was correct, there was another attack, a stronger version of Panzer Blade that Nepgear had yet to use, and would most likely come with an instant death status effect as well. Whatever future Nepgear came from, that would force that cheerful looking girl to resort to such devastating and cruel attacks, was a future IF wanted no part of.

And IF got to witness those skills time and time again as Nepgear insisted that they wipe out all trace of viral infection, which included any plant life they came across that showed signs of viral infection. At first it wasn't a big deal, but by halfway through the zone, Nepgear was hacking down every fifth tree and ordering IF to burn the roots to ash.

Neptune, being her usual self, insisted that they explore every nook and cranny they came across for treasure and other goodies. The most irritating part of the whole exploration bit was that sometimes when Nepgear cut down a tree and IF burned the remains, a new path opened up that led to a secret platform with a special monster and unique treasure.

It made Neptune just as eager to cut down the viral trees as Nepgear, if albeit for vastly different reasons.

Between the two CPUs, what IF had hoped would be a simple trek through the zone became a long slog. The only thing IF was thankful of was how easily they dispatched the monsters. Neptune and Nepgear tore through them with relative ease making Falcom and herself feel almost unneeded.

Thankfully the monsters that did respawn were of the normal variety and not the viral type. The strange monsters that IF had never seen before, didn't respawn at all. It placed some merit behind Nepgear's desire to completely clear the zone if it restored it back to what it should be.

But despite the long slog, they eventually they reached the end of the zone, the last platform, upon which stood the boss of the zone, the final viral monster they had to defeat. Behind them and around them the jungle burned, almost every tree around this final platform was viral, and the fire IF had started on the earlier platform had spread to this one, creating a ring of orange flame and setting the tone for a boss fight.

"What is that ugly thing?" Neptune asked, sounding as shocked as IF felt as they stared up at the monster before them.

The monster floated before them, hovering several meters above the ground. It looked like an enormous, almost fully grown fetus with tiny little arms and legs, an enormous, bulbous body and a face so ugly it could induce nightmares. A thick, translucent skin covered the sickening green colored body of the fetus like a protective membrane. Malevolent beady red eyes stared down at them from a face that only barely looked human. Four tentacles with bulging ends waved threateningly behind it.

"It's a Viral Child," Nepgear spat out as she glared angrily at the monstrosity before them. "Don't worry; it's weaker than it looks."

"Nepgear, its level one hundred," IF felt she needed to point that fact out. A quick scan of its status showed that it was significantly higher than the rest of the monsters in the zone, and much higher than either her or Falcom. Even though the two of them had broken into the sixties thanks to all the viral monsters they'd fought on the way here, it still wasn't enough.

"When dealing with these monsters, it's not about levels," Nepgear said as she eyed the monster warily, "it's about avoiding their attacks and hitting their weak spots."

"I take it you've fought these in the future?" IF asked dryly as she pulled out her Freak Diamonds and held them at the ready.

Nepgear shot her a startled look and then flushed in embarrassment for some reason, "I have, they weren't considered boss monsters though. They were one of the easier viral monsters we had to deal with regularly." Nepgear returned her focus to the monster before her. She raised her sword in her hands and pointed it at the Viral Child. "It's the Viral Mother and Viral Father that you really needed to be careful around."

IF shared a concerned look with Falcom. If this level one hundred monstrosity was considered fodder in the future, then that future sounded very bleak indeed.

"So what's the deal, Gear?" IF asked Nepgear.

"Well, first you need to—"

Time froze as a sudden bout of deja-vu shot through IF. A sinking feeling appeared in the pit of her stomach and she just knew what was going to happen next. Like watching a train wreck happening before her, she could do little more than watch as Neptune swung her sword.

"Hiyah!" Neptune shouted, and smacked her sword, the Laevateinn off the hide of the monster. The sword bit deeply into the soft flesh of the monster. The number 546,491 popped up above the monster's head in bright yellow as Neptune scored a critical hit.

Nepgear blinked.

Falcom blinked.

IF blinked.

The Viral Child let out an ear splitting screech of pain.

"Ya-tah! It didn't break this time!"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" IF screamed at Neptune hysterically. This wasn't like the Ancient Dragon! IF knew all that attack patterns of that creature and could avoid them by running. This was a complete unknown!

"Neptune!" Nepgear shouted in warning. There was a bright flash and the CPU Candidate activated her HDD form and shot across the platform and into combat.

She barreled into Neptune and the two went tumbling away to the side just as the four tentacles on the monster's back slammed into where Neptune had been. The platform shuddered under the force of the blow and cracks spider webbed out from the impact zone. What was worse was that the platform itself began to turn black and purple as if a sickness had begun to infect even it.

"Don't let those tentacles touch you at all costs!" Nepgear shouted in warning to all of them. She was engulfed by a bright purple light as she undid her transformation for some reason. "They'll inflict every status effect on you at once and it ignores all resistances and immunities."

"That's good to know," IF said as she started to circle around to the back of the monster. She didn't really have any intention of getting hit by those things in the first place, but she'd be extra careful now. "Weaknesses?"

"Regular strikes and combos, they'll do double damage and always be a critical hit," Nepgear said as she quickly got to her feet. She pulled Neptune up with her and placed herself between Neptune and the Viral Child. "But it'll absorb and heal from any attack that consumes SP, and that includes EXE skills."

In other words they had to get in close and personal to hurt it. "That's troublesome."

"So let's all attack at once and hack it to pieces!" Neptune said cheerfully as she waved her Laevateinn in the air.

"Neptune, get serious," IF chastised her.

"No, Neptune is correct," Nepgear said, "it can only use the tentacles to attack. If we all attack at once it will divide its attacks between us." Meaning they'd each only have to deal with a single tentacle. "I wish Uni was here," Nepgear added quietly.

"Uni? Why?" Uni was Noire's assistant over in Lastation. Perhaps the two of them were friends in the future or something?

"Ah, nothing!" Nepgear said, looking embarrassed by that slip of the tongue, "let's go!"

The four of them attacked in unison, coming at the monster from four different directions. Large numbers flashed above its head as the four of the hacked away at its soft, pliable flesh. It had a great deal of HP and its Mental stat was at maximum, but its defense against regular attacks might as well not even exist.

IF dodged out of the way of a lashing tentacle and severed as much of it as she could. It would grow back, as it had the past couple times she had done the same, but it gave her a brief moment of reprieve to get in close and unleash a full combination of a dozen strikes before she had to duck back out again.

"This is easy!" Neptune shouted happily from the other side of the monster as she cut a huge gouge into the monster, adding to the hundreds that already marred its body, "nothing to it! I bet if I transform this'll go even faster!"

"No, Sis! Don't!" Nepgear shouted at her sister in warning.

It was too late however. A purple pillar of light engulfed Neptune as she started her transformation into Purple Heart.

She never finished. Faster than IF could follow all four tentacles slammed through the pillar of light and into a helpless, transforming Neptune. Cries of pain erupted from the pillar of light as the Viral Child struck with everything it had. Nepgear raced across the platform as fast as she could to get between her sister and the monster. Her beam saber flashed through the air, cutting the tentacles down as they shot past her, but as fast as she cut them down, they regenerated and struck again.

Twelve, twenty, thirty six, forty eight. Over and over the tentacles struck true, more would have hit if it weren't for Nepgear. IF and Falcom were both too far away to help so they did what they could by carving into the Viral Child as much as they could. Its HP chunked down rapidly.

But not fast enough, it wasn't nearly fast enough. The pillar of light exploded for a second time that day, sending the battered and bruised body of a naked teenage Neptune bouncing across the platform. Her HP and SP were gone, and every ailment affliction that could be inflicted in a person, including status downs, clung to Neptune, covering her in a sick, purple light.

"Neptune!" Nepgear called out to her sister in fear.

No response.

"You monster!" Nepgear shouted and charged in at the Viral Child.

With Neptune down, it could focus more on them, using two tentacles to attack instead of just one. Nepgear didn't seem to notice; she darted and weaved between them as if the monster was attacking in slow motion. Her form so quick and fluid, she seemed to leave after images behind her. She didn't stop when she reached the monster, instead she jumped up and rammed her sword into its face. The monster screamed in pain and rage and tried to attack her.

Nepgear didn't seem to care. The tentacles slammed into her with bone crushing force, inflicted status ailment after status ailment, but she didn't seem to notice. Using her sword, still embedded in the face of the monster, she heaved herself up on top of it.

And then she started to carve her way down inside it. She tore into the Viral Child like someone gone made with anger and grief. IF jumped back out of range of the tentacles and simply stared in abject surprise as Nepgear disappeared inside the monster. It writhed in agony as it was cut to pieces from the inside out. Periodically Nepgear's sword appeared, ripping through the skin as it cut its way out, before disappearing back inside again.

The monster didn't seem particularly interested in Falcom and IF anymore. It kept hitting its own body with its tentacles as if trying to attack whatever was inside it, and failing miserably. IF used its distraction to hurtle around it as quickly as she could and rushed over to Neptune's side.

IF rolled her over onto her back and let out a quick sigh of relief. She was still alive, just KO'd after being hit by so many attacks.

"Will she be alright?" Falcom asked worriedly as she arrived. Her expression was deeply concerned as she stared down at her Goddess.

"She'll make it, Nep's too stupid to die," IF said, borrowing Compas words. She was only naked because she had been interrupted in mid transformation. IF had witnessed the transformation enough times to know that during the CPU shed their clothes as they changed into their new form. It just stored it in their inventory for later use.

IF quickly pulled three items out from her inventory, an Energy Fragment, a Nep Bull EX, and a Panacea. She crushed the Energy Fragment and sprinkled it over Neptune's prone form. A revitalizing glow quickly enveloped the purple-haired CPU. With a gasp of breath Neptune's eyes shot open as she regained consciousness.

"Iffy?" Neptune asked curiously as she looked up at her.

"Hush Nep. I'll kick your ass later for this," IF said as she quickly shoved the panacea down Neptune's throat before she could say anything stupid. The purple-haired girl coughed and chocked for a moment before she finally managed to swallow the medicine. All the negative status effects quickly disappeared, leaving Neptune simply weak.

"Nepgear is really tearing it up," Falcom said, sounding slightly odd. IF looked up at her friend who had her attention fixated on the Viral Child behind her. She shot a quick glance over her should at the Viral Child and started a little in surprise.

The HP was dropping like a rock. The damage numbers appearing above its head were incredible, and they appeared so quickly that IF could barely read the number before it disappeared and was replaced by another.

"That's my little sis!" Neptune said cheerfully, not even the least bit phased by her near death experience.

"She's certainly more reliable than you," IF said as she returned her attention back to her patient. She forced Neptune's mouth opened and poured the Nep Bull EX down her throat.

"Blech! Blegh! Ugh! That's so gross," Neptune complained after drinking the foul concoction. It did the trick however, as IF watched Neptune's HP bar return to full.

IF mercilessly forced the rest of it down her throat even though she didn't need it. "Then stop doing idiotic things."

Neptune coughed and spluttered and pushed the empty Nep Bull EX bottle away from her. She gathered her legs beneath her and pushed herself up to her feet. "But how was I supposed to know transforming would do that?" she asked, IF, looking down at her with a curious gaze. Her body glowed for a brief moment and her back hoody and boots were back. "My amazing little sis never said anything about HDD or buffs."

IF was about to refute her but stopped when she realized that Neptune was right. And that thought frightened IF more than the Viral Child behind her. Neptune said something that wasn't completely asinine and stupid, this shouldn't be possible.

Especially since the Viral Child wasn't much of a problem anymore. There was an explosion sound behind them as the Viral Child erupted into a slew of dark green and purple pixels that slowly dissolved into midair. As the pixels dissipated, a worn out, but determined looking Nepgear appeared. Her clothes were partially dissolved by the acidic blood of the monster she had been hacking from the inside out, but beyond showing a little more skin than usual, she was no worse for wear.

"Are you alright, Gear?" IF called out to her.

"Yes, I ate a Panacea, how is Neptune?" she asked worriedly.

"Don't worry about me my stupendous little sister!" Neptune said cheerfully and saluted Nepgear with a sideways peace sign. "It'll take more than a boss monster to down this heroine! I'm the main character of this story. I won't be done in by a little something like this!"

That brought a bright smile back to Nepgear's face.

IF shifted her gaze from Nepgear and eyed the results of the battle that were forming above them, created by the countless nanomachines in the air that watched and monitored everything in Gamindustri.

**Victory!  
EXP Gained**: 7,415,000  
**Credits Earned**: 900,500  
**Max Damage**: 147,980,150  
**Max Combo**: 1,731  
**Items Found**:  
Celestial Bangle  
Fury (Rita)

A surge of power flowed through IF's veins as the nanomachines in the air pumped seven and a half million experience points worth of energy into her body, boosting her level by twelve, placing her firmly at level seventy four.

She was still the lowest level of the four of them. Falcom was level seventy five, Neptune was eighty four while Nepgear was now level one hundred and seven.

"I think the four of us are now some of the most powerful people in Gamindustri, but for some reason I don't feel all that excited," IF said as pulled her status screen up before her. The stats she was looking at were just ridiculous. She had never imagined she'd get this powerful.

But it had come as a result of seeing that viral monstrosity. It was unlike anything she had ever thought possible. With the rest of the forest ensuring that only the strong could make it here, facing a boss monster that specialized in neutralizing the strong was quite frankly, unsettling. If Nepgear hadn't been here, they wouldn't have defeated it. They would have been beaten long before they figured out its secrets. Even a fully party of five with five support members would have difficulty bringing it down.

What had been sacrificed in the future for Nepgear to have been able to figure out its strengths and weaknesses? And was that future now becoming reality?

"Whoa!" Neptune's shout of surprise drew IF's attention. "Check out these drops! They're awesome!"

Nepgear looked concerned, "but… that viral monster shouldn't have any drops."

"Well look at this!" Neptune said as she pulled out her new sword: Fury (Rita). It was a long, slim katana, its blade made out of some clear white crystal. White and gold holy energy rolled across the surface of the blade and a brilliant golden gem was inset in the in the bottom of the hilt.

The stats were top tier as well. The same could be said of the Celestial Bangle that Neptune now wore around her wrist. While the sword excelled at offense, the bangle provided incredible defensive capabilities, far beyond anything that was currently available today. It just might be enough to keep Neptune from getting smacked around like a ragdoll.

But even so, IF still wasn't going to press her luck on that one.

"Well, whatever," IF said, waving away the oddity. "With Neptune around, I'm not surprised." She glanced around the empty platform. The trees surrounding the platform had finished burning to the ground by now, leaving only healthy, green trees and vines left in the forest. The last of the viral infection here was gone.

There was still one thing missing however.

"Where are Neverlan, Otome and Mate?" Falcom asked, voicing IF's thoughts.

"Oh they're probably around here somewhere," Neptune said without a care. She waved her hand towards the center of the platform, "you know, if the damsels don't appear out of thin air then it usually means there's some sort of secret underground laboratory or something we need to explore first."

"That's ridiculu—" IF stopped herself from saying any more.

She stared suspiciously at Neptune for a few moments before shifting her gaze to the center of the platform and then back to Neptune. She stomped over to the center of the platform and continued to stare suspiciously down at the ground. This was Neptune they were dealing with. It was quite possible that she was right simply because half the off-hand things she said ended up _being_ right at some point in time just to mess with IF and everyone else.

IF tapped her foot on the platform.

Nothing.

She shifted a bit to the left and did it again.

Still nothing.

She shifted a bit more and tried one last time.

A dull echo rang out across the platform. "Found it." IF said, letting a large sweat drop roll down the side of her head without a care. She hated when Neptune was right like that, but it was better that she checked it out first and prove her right, then shoot Neptune down, and be proven wrong after the fact.

As the others came over to her side, IF slammed her fist into the platform beneath her, punching through a thin layer of pixels. Gripping the edge of the hole tightly she heaved on it with all her strength. Gamindustri protested the violent abuse of its surroundings with a loud screeching noise before finally with a loud pop the hatch of a hidden entrance ripped free from its hinges.

Open before them was a brightly lit, futuristic shaft leading down into the depths of a secret laboratory, just as Neptune predicted. It was actually an elevator shaft suggesting that perhaps there was actually a button somewhere on the platform one could press to activate.

"Charge!" Neptune shouted happily and jumped over the edge of the hole in the shaft below. "Oh, wow, this is pretty deep."

"Sis!" Nepgear shouted worriedly.

"She'll be fine," IF said as a loud bang echoed its way up the elevator shaft. "She has the sky falling achievement. I don't think she can even take falling damage anymore."

"It's not that," Nepgear said to IF.

"Then—" A loud whoosh cut her off as the floor opened up and the elevator appeared. "Oh." IF realized what Nepgear was getting at as she watched Neptune go flying, launched by the rapid elevator.

"WHOA!" Neptune shouted as she hovered high in the sky at the peak of her ascent. "Watch out below!"

There wasn't enough time for anyone to react as Neptune came hurtling back towards the ground like a comet. IF winced in relief as Neptune slammed harshly into Nepgear instead of her. Internally thanking NPC 60173 once more for delivering the miracle that was Nepgear to her.

"What the goodness?!" Nepgear cried out as she tried to untangle herself from her older sister.

"Eheheh, what are you doing on the ground, my clumsy little sibling?" Neptune asked while grinning happily at Nepgear.

"I'm not clumsy, Neptune! You fell on me!" Nepgear protested pitifully to her sister.

"Ah, too bad for you Noire wasn't here. I'm certain it would have been her if she was," Neptune said comfortingly to her sister as she stumbled to her feet. "I think she got an award for being the most desirable person to fall on a few years back."

IF didn't think that was an award Noire would be particularly pleased to have, or would even be willing to admit she received. "Enough fooling around Nep. Let's just get in the elevator and go."

"Right-o!" Neptune said.

As the four of them went to step on the elevator it shot back down the shaft in an instant, leaving nothing for them to step on but empty air. Neptune shouted in surprise and tried to pull herself back over the edge by wind milling her arms. IF grabbed the back of her hoodie to pull her back and was pulled down the shaft as well. Falcom and Nepgear grabbed onto IF and tried to pull her back but failed.

All four of them went tumbling down the shaft in a giant tangle of limbs. The elevator came up to meet them half way, slamming into them and hurling them out of the shaft and into the air like Neptune had been before.

They landed painfully back on the platform where they had first been.

Above them in big black bolded letters the nanomachines of Gamindustri formed a rather mocking message: **Elevator Boss**: 5, **Nep's Party**: 0

Neptune started to laugh softly. "Guys, I think we're like totally being trolled by an elevator here."

IF covered her eyes with a hand and let out a long, drawn out sigh. "Only around you, Nep, only around you. I don't think there's been a normal dungeon excursion with you since this story began."

"Never thought I'd say I miss adventuring with Neverlan," Falcom added in a deadpanned voice not too far away from IF. "At least the environment acted normal with her, I've never heard of an elevator trolling people."

Nepgear groaned, "this almost feels like one of _his_ jokes, but I know it can't be."

"His?" IF asked wearily, tilting her head to the side to look at Nepgear. She really didn't want to get up right now.

"Oh, nothing," Nepgear said sounding nervous.

IF didn't say anything else. With all the crazy she'd dealt with today and knew she was going to have to deal with in the near future, she really didn't want to be saddled with anything else. With a groan IF pushed herself up into a sitting position and stared lifelessly at the elevator that was sitting, mockingly, open for them on the platform.

"Let's… just figure this out." IF said tiredly.

"I vote we just break it," Falcom suggested.

A lop-sided smile came to IF's lips. "I like that suggestion." For some reason the elevator started to shake in fear.

And so started another epic battle between Nep's Party and the Elevator Boss. After an hour long slog of powerful techniques, wily strategies, and a large helping of raw, brute force, the Elevator Boss finally yielded and the heroines found themselves at the base of the elevator shaft staring into the antechamber of a futuristic underground secret laboratory.

Behind them, the elevator shaft was no more, it was simply an enormous hole in the ground, carved out by an extremely irate IF who was still frothing at the mouth. Her head whipped every which way as she searched desperately for another outlet for her frustration.

Hovering mockingly above IF's face that in no way made her feel better about her achievement on winning was the results: **Elevator Boss**: 292, **Nep's Party**: 1

"It didn't even give us any experience or credits," Neptune pouted as she poked the victory screen which showed that they had received absolutely nothing for their efforts. Nepgear just let out a soft, hopeless laugh as she stared forward into the new dungeon they'd unveiled. The dread on her face on what she would find and what would happen to her was a plain as day.

IF glared murderously at Neptune, somehow she knew this was all her fault. She couldn't prove it, but she had that sinking feeling that everything in this place, this Gallia Forest, existed because of her! That feeling was a good enough excuse to—

Falcom flicked her forehead, "calm down IF, it's over, we're here now."

"Just a little! I know it's her fault! It has to be! Everything weird and strange is always Nep's fault for some reason!" IF frothed angrily.

Falcom gently bopped her on the head. "Now, now, you can't go blaming this on Neptune just because everything up to this point has been her fault."

"Sure I can!"

"Let's go rescue our damsels in distress!" Neptune shouted cheerfully as she marched through the victory screen display and across the room to the steel sliding door on the far side.

IF took a few deep breaths and calmed herself. She had to remember, they were here for their friends. She had all the time in the world to berate Neptune once they returned to Planeptune. "Alright, I'm good now. Let's find Neverlan and the others." Feeling much calmer now she started after Neptune. Falcom fell into step behind her and bringing up the rear was a despondent Nepgear that didn't want to go any further.

IF couldn't really blame her considering that Neptune had fallen on her little sister every single time and over half the Elevator Boss's victories were against Neptune.

The laboratory started off creepy. Dark, dim lighting made it difficult to see, little more than tiny bulbs peeking out of the walls and ceilings that looked as if they'd been scorched by a raging hot fire. Nothing could be heard save for the sound of their own breathing which grew louder with each step, amplified by the unnatural silence.

IF winced with each step they took as their footfalls echoed painfully down the barren corridors.

Halfway through the laboratory a sense of impending doom started to press down upon them. The blackened walls shifted and changed, becoming flesh like. Their footsteps left deep imprints behind that filled with an oozing green puss. Dark whispers started up, coming from all around them, even from within.

The light grew more dim and IF swore that with each step, someone cried out in pain.

They stopped when they reached an obsidian door. The darkness around them seemed to press down upon them. They could feel that whatever malevolence filled the place lurked just behind it. Waiting to pounce on them the moment they opened it.

"Nep, Falcom, Gear, be careful," IF whispered as she drew her katars, "whatever is behind this door is powerful and dangerous."

The other three agreed and drew their weapons, ready to do battle with the monstrous force beyond. The one that had taken her friends captive.

IF took a long deep breath and slammed the hell of her boot into the door. The door snapped open and IF charged into…

Bright light and cheerful laughter. Peace settled over IF, washing away her worries and fears.

There was an unbelievable sight before her right now. It was like she had just walked into a fairy circle. Homes had been carved into the trunks of enormous trees that towered hundreds of feet in the air above them. Delicate wooden bridges crisscrossed the open air, spanning the boughs, and bright colorful lanterns hung everywhere bathing the enormous open space in a soft, warm glow. Elves and fairies moved amongst the branches, walked along the bridges, drank, sang, danced, and were merry.

Dancing with them were the countless citizens of Planeptune that had gone missing as well.

"This place is amazing, isn't it?" Neverlan's amused filled voice drew IF's head to the left. There walking towards her nonchalantly was her friend, Neverlan, with Otome and Mate trailing just behind her. All three looked happy, refreshed and well fed.

"Happy, here," Mate said quietly, "too happy."

"It is very beautiful," IF admitted as she gazed at the beautiful place. If she could stay here forever, it wouldn't be long enough.

A tiny part of her mind warned her that there was something wrong here, but she ignored it, squashing it like a bug. It was just common sense and common sense had driven her nuts ever since she'd arrived at this island. IF didn't want to deal with it right now.

"We're stuck here on account of the impenetrable bramble barrier that surrounds the place," Neverlan said, jerking her thumb at the thick thorny branches that encircled the place, "but this isn't so bad. I think many of the people here probably don't even want to return."

"Elevator Boss… annoying," Mate said quietly, an irritable twitch had developed in her right eyebrow.

"That too," Neverlan admitted. "Couldn't go back the way we came because of it."

"Well, this is certainly anti-climatic," Neptune said ruefully as she stepped up beside IF. She sniffed the air and a giant grin split her face. "Nep Jr.! I smell cakes and cookies over there!" Neptune said excitedly as she pointed into the distance.

And without waiting for a response Neptune shot off into the distance, following her nose.

"Wait for me sis!" Nepgear called out as she chased after her sister.

"Well, we took care of the Elevator Boss," Falcom said, pointing through the obsidian entryway. It looked incredibly out of place amongst the life and nature all around them. "We can leave."

"Let's go home," Mate urged Neverlan.

"I suppose…" Neverlan glanced hesitantly over at Neptune who was jumping up and down in front of a food stall like a kid in a candy shop. "Can it wait until tomorrow though? There's a festival tonight."

"Festival, every night," Mate pointed out.

"We just got here," IF pointed out to Mate. That small part of her mind screamed at her again, urged her to leave but again IF squashed it. "We can stay a single night. What could possibly go wrong?"

For some reason Mate turned tail and ran.

* * *

**Note on Neptune's new body**: It's the same one as adult Neptune from Hyperdimension Neptunia VII. Google Adult Neptune and it'll come up with hundreds of images. Only difference between them is weapon.


	14. A Hidden Agenda

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hyperdimension Neptunia. All characters, thoughts and ideas that exist in this story that were taken from the original works belong to their creators, Compile Heart and Idea Factory. Only original thoughts and or characters created in this story are my own.**

**Chapter 14: A Hidden Agenda**

IF awoke with a groan, her head pounded like little fairies were prancing around and smacking tiny little hammers off her brain. She sat up, slowly so as to not aggravate the annoying little fairies that enjoyed using her head as a drum and blearily took stock of her situation.

Her vision was blurry, and the piercing light that shone in through the small windows in the tree only aggravated it. She knew she was resting on something soft, probably a bed from the way it felt, but it felt sticky against her skin, like it was covered in sweat.

A small murmur drew her attention to her right. She blinked and rubbed her eyes a few times, and then squinted at the form lying beside her.

It was Otome, her friend. Blissfully asleep beneath the covers of the bed they shared. The covers were pulled down a bit, exposing a bit of her pearly skin. She was naked for some reason, but that wasn't exactly strange for Otome. She always said sleeping in the nude was more comfortable than not.

IF let a small smile cross her lips as she watched her friend sleep peacefully and she pulled the covers up over her shoulders. She brushed some of Otome's matted hair from her face and turned to her left to get out of the bed, not wanting to disturb her friend.

She froze, the smile on her lips shattering into pieces.

There was an elf there in the bed with them, on her left. A male one, and as naked as the day he was born.

Her head whipped forward, taking in everything in the room. There were dozens of people here in this small house carved out of one of the many trees. There were an equal number of males and females, all completely nude. On a couch on the far side of the room she could see Neverlan stretched out, snoring softly with an equally sleepy male elf on top of her. And on her right, propped up against the wall with nearly a dozen small sleepy fairies clinging to her was Mate. Her naked body was completely covered in a sticky white mess.

Mate was awake and staring accusingly at her.

"What… I…"

"I blame you for this, IF," Mate said simply and the accusing look in her eyes became more intense, "completely your fault."

That was when the smell hit her. The stench of sex filled the room. The scene, the smell, there was no way anyone could mistake this for anything other than a massive drunken orgy.

She quickly raised the sheets and glanced down at herself. There was no denying that she had participated in it as well. Not with that mess down there.

So IF did the only thing her delicate, pain filled drowsy mind could do in this nightmare scenario.

IF fainted.

**x~X~x**

She barely noticed the sharp pain that ran up her leg as a sharp rock dug into her thigh, adding another gash to the countless others that covered her body. She was hungry days ago, and exhausted last week. Now she was so far beyond either that she didn't know any words to accurately describe how she felt.

But to stop would be to die. To sleep would be to never wake up.

So she kept going, heedless of her own needs.

The pain that came when her hands scraped across the rocks or something banged into her seemed distant, as if it was someone else's body that was being hurt and she was just moving it for them. But that was fine, so long as she could still keep moving. Shifting a rock here, digging a hole there, pulling her body forward bit by bit as she crawled to what she hoped was salvation, freedom.

Her sense of smell had dulled long ago. There had been no change in days, only a faint hint of earth tainted with the coppery smell of blood and the metallic taste of steel. The dull clang of steel banging off rock and stone, the shifting of earth, and her own labored breathing were the only consistent sounds to reach her ears, one of the few assurances that she was still alive.

"Hey, woman, you still alive?" an annoying, grating voice reached her ears.

Sometimes that thing talked as well, but it was less frequent now than it had been at first. She didn't want to admit it, but those few times it did speak were comforting. They had been enemies, but now they shared a common goal, a common desire, and worked together to keep the other sane.

"…"

"That cold silence, you must be! I can still feel the blood flowing through your thighs! And over my face, did you stupidly cut yourself again?"

She rapped the finger hole at the base of her kunai off his face. A loud metallic clang echoed painfully through the enclosed space.

"GAH! That was my eye!"

He was little more than a talking head now. The rest of his body was destroyed by the massive explosion. The head was hanging down across her thigh, tied to her waist by a piece of wire she had originally used to bound him in the first place. Taking him with her had been whimsical at first, she had originally been determined to turn him into a bunch of spoons.

But things were different now.

They were working together. She wanted out so she could get her Goddess help, and he didn't want to be trapped beneath ground for the rest of eternity. He was very useful and she had to admit, without his aid, Vert would already be dead.

Vert…

She reached across and touched Vert's face gently. Her breathing was still shallow, but she was alive. Vert was tied up to her as well, albeit a lot more care had been taken in ensuring that she was more comfortable than the talking head at her side.

"…close?" she asked, her voice was raspy from the lack of use. It was difficult to form words, more so than usual. Her mouth was dry and sticky and sometimes refused to work properly.

"Closer anyways," came the response from her side. "In retrospect, blowing myself the fuck up and entombing myself for all eternity in a dark, nightmarish hell empty enough to make oblivion shit itself with envy probably wasn't the smartest of ideas."

"…Spybore?" CFW Judge had been quite forth coming about his former master. The once super-villain had changed a lot over the past… she didn't know how long it had been. He didn't curse as much and he was much kinder, to her at least.

"Screw that egotistical bastard," CFW Judge spat out viciously, "like hell he can do anything worse than what we are digging ourselves out of! I'm going to roll my face over to his ankles and gnaw them off the first opportunity I get!"

Of course it would take a miracle amongst miracles for him to completely change his ways. Still, he was probably right about what he said. There were many fates worse than death and they were digging their way out of one of them. That was one thing she had come to appreciate about CFW Judge, he never told a lie. He was completely, one-hundred percent honest. That came with its own set of problems when combined with his vulgar vocabulary, vicious personality and distinct lack of tact, but it also meant when he said something, he meant it.

The silence grew heavy as she returned to digging their way out. It was a painful and exhausting task, but there was nothing else to do, and no other recourse. Painful or not, exhausting or not, it was dig or die.

And so she dug.

She didn't know how long she continued for, pulling that earth out the way, shifting rocks to the side, pushing her broken, battered body forward, dragging the others behind her.

It could have been hours, days, or even a week after that conversation, but she felt the faint tickle of a breeze on her face. She wasn't certain at first, there was so much dirt and mud caked on her that it acted as a numbing layer, making it difficult to feel her surroundings, but as she dug further, the breeze became stronger, more insistent.

And then she shifted that last rock, and a tiny pin prick of light wormed its way into the darkness she had crawled through. The light was painful, it hurt so bad, but she couldn't resist staring into it. She didn't care how much it hurt, that singular ray of light was like a beacon of hope, of salvation. Never before had pain felt so good to her.

"…" She banged the hilt of her kunai off the face at her side.

"Ow! Stop that! That's my eye!"

"…just making sure."

"Damn woman! I was letting you savor the moment!"

She tucked the kunai back into her inventory. "…appreciated," she said softly as she gently patted his face.

"Don't get all soft on me now!"

"…whatever."

He was silent as she went back to shifting the rock and dirt out of the way. With each handful of dirt she shoveled, and each rock she moved, the opening grew, and the light grew with it. Renewed strength flowed into her veins, momentarily banishing the pain and giving her a second wind.

"…thanks."

"Bah! I want out of this cursed place too! There aren't any ankles to bite in here."

Of course there weren't.

She focused on the task at hand, all of the small rocks and easily shifted dirt was moved, but the opening wasn't large enough to squeeze through, it was barely large enough for her arm to fit through. The open sky beyond beckoned to her mockingly, just out of reach. The bright blue and gentle rolling clouds a beautiful sight to one who had seen nothing but darkness for Goddess knew how long.

Unfortunately everything that was left in the way were large slabs of stone or rock, difficult to move and something she had worked around on the way up here. But she was too tired to try and find another route. She wouldn't make it. The motivation wouldn't be there, not after turning her back from this glimmer of salvation.

There was still the long trek back to Leanbox from the ruins, she had hoped to save some strength for that, but more than that, she needed out. There would be no trek if she didn't get out now.

She pulled a kunai from her inventory and smack it against the various boulders and stone slabs around her. Each one gave off a different sound, signifying density and weight. The large slab stone on her right was the least dense, and would most likely be easier to move provided nothing else was resting on top of it.

That was something she would find out soon enough as she placed a hand against the smooth surface of the stone slab. She summoned all her strength and pushed with everything she had. The slab didn't budge at first, but slowly, bit by bit, it started to shift. And then with a loud groan it toppled over backwards.

It was there, the exit, the hole was now large enough. She almost couldn't believe it was true. She simply sat there staring at it unblinkingly for several moments.

"What are you waiting for you dirty, pasty woman! Get a move on!" CFW Judge snapped at her, breaking her from her reverie.

"…thanks."

She angled her body sideways and squeezed through the exit.

"Ow, ow, ow," CFW Judge complained as his face was scrapped painfully against the ground beneath her.

She didn't care, Lady Vert was her priority, and she had to make sure she wasn't unnecessarily injured getting through the exit. It was still difficult as it was to pull the CPU of Leanbox through after her though, her largest breasts kept getting caught on the rocks. That caused a brief flash of irritation to course through her, but it was gone as soon as it arrived.

But she pulled her through, somehow.

Looking around she realized she was outside the zone now. She had dug across the entire length of it. The cliff top ruins were behind her, or what was left of them. Half the cliff had fallen away into the water below, taking much of the ruins with it. In a sense she had the bad luck of not being in that section, it would have made it easier to escape had she been.

Spread out before her was short, bright green grass that spread outwards for as far as she could see. In the distance, moving through that grass, were various monsters and beasties that inhabited the grassy plains. Thankfully they were far away, as low level as they were, she was in no condition to do battle with anyone, or anything.

Her dress was gone, burned to ash by the heat of the flame, most of her kunai had melted into useless lumps of steel, the few she still had were the backups she'd kept in her inventory for emergencies. She was certain if Gamindustri supported the ability to display burned and melted flesh, she would be covered in that as well. Instead the melted steel had simply caused deep, angry red and black bruises, most of which couldn't be seen due to how much dirt and grime was caked onto her body.

And she wasn't even going to bother counting the number of lacerations and scrapes that dotted her body.

She glanced back at her Goddess again, wishing once more that she'd had the forethought to bring healing items with her. The areas they'd traveled through, and the area they were going to, were all so low level than neither of them had really bothered to bring any, they hadn't though there would be any need.

That was a mistake she wasn't going to make a second time. She gently touched her left shoulder where her arm used to be. It was a mistake she couldn't afford to make a second time. From the bloody hole where her arm used to be, four little metallic lines ran out and embedded themselves inside Vert, near her heart. Every time her own heart beat, some of her blood pumped through those lines into Vert.

It was all that kept her alive. The horrific wound on Lady Vert's back bled out blood almost faster than she could replace it. Even now, days, possibly even weeks, after the explosion, it still gushed blood. It was too large to heal naturally, unaided. By all accounts, Vert should be dead, the body wasn't able to heal from such a wound naturally, but Xone wasn't going to let her die. Vert had taken the full brunt of the explosion, it was the only reason Xone was still alive, and she was going to make sure Vert didn't die for her sake.

So her arm had to go, the blood in there replenished much of what Vert had lost in the initial explosion, the flesh and skin, used as an emergency ration to sustain them when the hunger became too great. CFW Judge had been very helpful in transferring the blood safely to Vert, and he provided the little tubes that allowed Xone to keep pumping blood to her. Little tubes ran from CFW Judge's severed head into Xone's side, tunneling through her body, reinforcing her organs and enhancing her body's natural ability to produce blood.

He was the only reason why Xone was able to get out, although he had a vested interest in that as well. She had not escaped without injuries either, and the digging had added even more. But CFW Judge was able to help her replenish blood faster than she lost it, and faster than she pumped it out to Vert. The numbness to pain, the energy required to move on, the electrical shocks to her organs to force them to keep working long after they should have stopped, it all came from him. Without him, she would die.

And then Vert would die.

But without her, he would be stuck, buried under thousands of tons of rock and earth, forever imprisoned in a lightless hell.

The two of them had quickly realized the gravity of their situation and had come to a mutually beneficial arrangement.

"So, woman, what now?" CFW Judge asked gruffly.

CFW Judge had even become kinder to her as a result of their agreement. She was woman now, no longer bitch, or worm, or any other derogatory term. The fact that he was a part of her might have something to do with it. His sensory abilities had been damaged in the explosion as well. He could still see and feel, but his sense of hearing and smell were gone, the sensors used for those had been scorched by his own attack. She provided those for him now.

"…crawl," she said quietly, and started to drag her bloody, ruined body across the grasslands towards Leanbox.

"Too bad you're all fleshy," CFW Judge commented, "you'd make a good boss villain; tenacious and stubborn, not like all the other whiny bitches out there."

She wasn't quite sure if she should take that as an insult or a compliment, but considering where he was coming from, and what his label had once been, she was going to assume it was a compliment.

Her journey was a short one however, as she barely made it a hundred feet before a bright light shone down on her. The wind kicked up violently and the grass all around her started to whip around in a frenzy.

"We have company," CFW Judge said, trying to glance up into the sky.

Xone followed his gaze. A black stealth helicopter with green accents and green lights was quickly descending above her. It was one of the latest technologies to come out of Leanbox. It was absolutely silent, despite the large rotary wings.

It took her a few moments to realize what it was she was actually looking at. She had been alone for so long with no one to rely on save for herself, and whatever support CFW Judge could provide, that it didn't compute that help was here. To her, the thought that someone would actually bother to look for them had never crossed her mind.

But the moment the helicopter landed and the side door opened up, realization came crashing down like a ton of circuits and what little strength Xone had left fled from her body. Her arms folded under her and she flopped onto the grassy ground, going still as an unimaginable amount of exhaustion crushed her from all directions.

"Lady Vert! Xone! Oh my Goddess!" Chika's shocked and horrified voice floated over to Xone's ears.

"…please… help Lady Vert…" Xone gasped out weakly into grass her face was buried in. Everything was growing dark and breathing became difficult.

"Xone! Your arm! What happened...?" There was a brief, shocked pause, "WHAT ARE YOU STANDING THERE GAPING FOR!?" Xone heard Chika scream at someone, "Get me Energy Fragments, Nep Bulls, Panaceas, everything! NOW!"

"…so… tired," Xone whispered weakly. Her limbs felt like useless unresponsive piles of jelly.

"Oi, woman, don't go fucking dying on me now!" CFW Judge snapped at her, "I can't keep your damn useless fleshy organs going if your mind up and quits on me!"

"…sorry." It was so hard. Lady Vert would survive, she had done her job, and now the will to keep going just wasn't there anymore.

Xone suddenly felt herself get lifted onto something soft and clean smelling. "What the hell is this?" She heard Chika say, probably noticing the severed head dangling at Xone's side.

"I'm the only thing keeping those two fleshy bitches alive right now." Xone heard CFW Judge tell Chika.

The grinding of Chika's teeth was audible, even to Xone's fading consciousness. "You get the Leanbox's Hospital One on the line now," Chika snapped at someone Xone couldn't see. Her vision was gone now, and her hearing was slowly fading away. "And you tell them, if they aren't ready to receive us the moment we arrive, I'll kill them all myself!"

And then there was nothing as the rest of her senses fled, leaving her in blissful emptiness. She didn't know if was dead, or simply asleep.

She didn't care. She was just too tired to care. Lady Vert would live, and that was enough for her.

**x~X~x**

Neptune stood still as Histoire analyzed her new physical condition. Beneath her was a circular platform just large enough for her to stand on with a glass floor that was lit up with bright purple light. Hovering just above her head was a metal loop the same diameter as the platform she was standing on. Between that circular loop and the base was a thin bluish film. There were several small machines whipping rapidly around her, slowly moving up and down her body, running transparent looking beams across her body as they analyzed her. Her eyes followed them when they could but otherwise she kept still.

Every time her muscle so much as twitched Histoire shot her an angry look causing her to freeze again. Histoire was determined to make sure she didn't move so much as an inch while she scanned her body. She seemed really concerned about the sudden change in her physical appearance, although she refused to say why.

It was just the two of them in this room deep inside Neptune's sanctuary in her Basilicom. The room wasn't very large, or very well lit. A couple of fluorescent white lights in the ceiling gave the room what little light it had and aside from the machine she now stood in, it was devoid of furnishing save for a small stool where her clothes were messily tossed upon. It was a room she had forgotten even existed. She hazily remembered it from long ago, when Histoire had first picked her up and chosen her to be the CPU of Planeptune. Histoire had said the scan had been necessary to properly adjust her body for its new role as the CPU of Planeptune.

There had been a bunch of other mumbo jumbo in that speech that Neptune couldn't remember. When Histoire started spitting out big words, her mind sort of automatically tuned her out wandered in a different direction.

Neptune did remember that she'd been trussed up and hung from the ceiling since she had trouble staying still for long periods of time, although she couldn't quite remember who it was that had tied her up.

A clear ding rang out through the room and a screen popped up in front of Histoire. Despite being backwards to Neptune she was still able to make it out clearly. Histoire rarely shared her screen with Neptune so she had learned how to read backwards a long time ago, although she rarely understood half of what was on the screen.

**Physical Changes**  
Age Growth: 13 - 18  
Height: 146cm - 156cm  
Weight: 38kg - 42kg  
Sizes: B73-W54-H76 - B79-W55-H80  
Cup: A - B  
Hair: Neck Length - Hip Length

**Warning**: Physical Aging Detected.  
**Warning:** Palette Shift – Darker Scheme Detected.  
**Warning**: Full Development of Secondary Sexual Characteristics Detected.

**Mental Changes  
Warning**: Development of Ego Detected.  
**Warning**: Divergence of Personality Detected.  
**Warning**: Intellectual Development Detected.

**Other**  
**Critical Warning**: Unknown code detected within Blank Slate.

"Whoa, that's a lot of warnings!" Neptune said as she leaned forward to peer at the screen in front of Histoire. "Wait, why is intellectual development a warning?" Or secondary sexual characteristics for that matter. The development of her body couldn't be a bad thing, both Vert and Noire had fully developed bodies and they were perfectly fine.

Histoire quickly brushed her hand aside and the screen disappeared. "Must be a glitch in the system," she said easily. "It is meant to detect all changes and abnormalities in an individual. Do not worry, I will have a look at it later and make sure there is nothing wrong with the software."

"I'm sure you'll get it all figured out Histy!" Neptune said cheerfully. She glanced down at herself and pointed at herself, "can I get dressed now?" She was wearing little more than a pair of purple and black striped panties. "It's a little chilly in here and stuff, I don't wanna freeze my tootsie off inside my own sanctuary. That'd be all kinds of embarrassing."

A small frown creased Histoire's lips and she waved hand again. The machines stopped spinning around Neptune and disappeared into the base she was standing upon. The circular ring above her head did the same, lower down around her, deactivating the thin blue energy film around her, before tucking itself into the platform.

"What's wrong Histy?" Neptune asked as she stepped off the platform and walked over to her clothes. She knew her little pint sized Oracle after being around her for nearly three centuries, there was something else that was bothering her. When Histoire didn't respond Neptune paused in the process of grabbing her hoodie and threw Histoire a concerned look. Her oracle had her eyes closed and seemed to be in some sort of meditative trance. "Histy?"

Histoire's eyelids fluttered a few time before she opened them and regarded Neptune, "your friends have arrived from the Hospital, you should finish getting dressed. I'll go see if Nepgear can make us some tea and cookies." And with that the bookish Oracle floated out of the room.

"That was weird," Neptune said as she watched her Oracle leave. She quickly got dressed and followed after Histoire. While she was never really one to worry about small things, or even mediocre and sometimes serious things, some of those warnings disturbed her more than she was willing to admit.

And that Histoire wouldn't explain them concerned her even more. Neptune knew there were no glitches in the system. Histoire directly controlled all the systems in Planeptune at all times. A glitch in the system was the same as a glitch in her and that was something that had never happened in the two hundred and seventy nine years Neptune had known Histoire.

While she may not be the most intelligent person in the Gamindustri, she wasn't ignorant. She knew a fair deal. She just rarely felt the need to exercise that knowledge in any useful, meaningful way. She knew what an Ego was, it was the part of the mind that rationalized one's instincts. Neptune had to admit she let her instincts take over almost all the time. It was simply more fun to just go with the flow and do whatever came to her mind, but a development of an Ego was not necessarily a bad thing.

In fact, most of those warnings were perfectly natural things that should be encouraged in the normal development of a healthy human being. So why were they warnings for her? The only ones Neptune was really concerned about was the divergence of personality and unknown code. The former, however, could mean just about anything, and the latter came with the odd misnomer – Blank Slate.

She wasn't Blank Slate, she was Neptune!

What was Histoire hiding from her?

"That look doesn't suit you Nep," IF's concerned voice suddenly broke her out of her reverie.

She hadn't realized her feet had carried her into the main room of her Basilicom.

Before her were IF and Falcom, lounging on the couch in the main room of her Basilicom. Compa hovered just behind them with a concerned look on her face that must look just as out of place as the one on her own. Nepgear was nowhere to be seen, probably in the kitchen cooking up some tea and baking some cookies.

Neptune focused on IF and a huge smile broke out across her lips. "Iffy! What's the report from that hellish zone?"

"What do you mean hellish zone?" IF retorted with a snort, "it was just the Hospital."

"Gack! You said that word!" Neptune cringed violently back, "don't you know if you say that word they'll come take you away and stick needles in you?"

"Nep-Nep doesn't like Hospitals," Compa said to IF.

IF palmed her forehead and sighed, "Nep, there's nothing wrong with Hospitals."

Neptune pointed at the huge syringe Compa had in her hands for some reason.

IF looked over her shoulder at Compa who was humming happily while hugging her giant fear inducing syringe. "There's nothing wrong with Hospitals so long as Compa is just visiting," she amended her statement.

"What is that supposed to mean, Iffy?" Compa asked curiously.

"Nothing." IF said quickly and averted her gaze from Compa. "So what's the verdict?"

"I've got the bod of an eighteen year old!" Neptune said cheerfully as she hugged herself. "But there sure were an awful lot of warnings."

IF leaned forward, looking alarmed. "Warnings?"

"Ya! Like—"

"That's quite enough, Neptune," Histoire said, interrupting her as she entered the room. Nepgear entered the room just behind her carrying a tray with five mugs of tea, a bottle of beer and some slices of cake. Histoire gave IF a friendly smile. "There were some minor issues detected, but I am quite confident they will be sorted out in time."

The smile on Neptune's face faltered for a brief moment before she brought it back in full force. Some of those were not minor issues. Even she wasn't stupid enough to believe that. "So Iffy! What's up with Neverlan and Co.? Will they be in ass kicking mode soon?"

"They already are," IF said wryly, "left this morning to take on another quest, one a bit closer to home anyways. Some of the others, those that were there longer and aren't super unique, are still undergoing examinations."

"Can you give me a more detailed report?" Histoire asked quietly as she floated over to her own cup of tea that had been placed on a squat glass table in front of the couch.

IF took a deep breath before starting in more detail. "Neverlan, Otome and Mate made a full recovery, no worse for wear. Neverlan is a bit too crazy for anything to really affect her for long and Otome and Mate are used to the crazy shenanigans that Neverlan drops them into." She gave Neptune a curious look. "For some reason all three of them are now firm believers in you, actually, despite not following any Goddess before."

"Well I am super awesome, so that's to be expected," Neptune said as she buffed her fingers off her hoodie.

"Whatever," IF brushed aside her comment with a wave of her hand. "The other high level adventurers that were captured before Neverlan and the others are expected to make a full recovery as well but…"

"But what?" Why did IF trail off like that?

IF took a deep breath before continuing. "There was something wrong about that place, Neptune. The infection of the forest itself, the strange monsters we fought, the Viral Child, the disturbing tunnels we walked through before reaching that supposed wonderland… If anything that final place should have terrified us even more, but it didn't. Peace settled over us the moment we walked in, our guards lowered, we become accepting of our surroundings, we didn't doubt anything. _I_ didn't even want to leave. _You_ of all people had to pull me away from that place. I still wanted to stay even after…" IF shuddered.

"Even after Iffy-poo cheated on me!" Compa finished, waving her syringe at IF menacingly.

"You and Otome _were_ rather 'attached' to that elf," Neptune teased her friend. IF managed to blush and look sick to her stomach at the same time.

It had seemed a little strange to Neptune at the time. She had been far too preoccupied by the treats and snacks to care about all the naked frolicking elves and fairies and her dear little sister, Nepgear, had dutifully kept her supplied with a constant stream of goodies. Falcom had simply left and set up camp back at the downed elevator boss when Neverlan and Otome had dragged IF away to some weird festival.

"I don't want to talk about that anymore," IF said quickly while shooting nervous looks at Compa. "Let's just conclude that all those NPCs we 'rescued' want to hop on the next ship and go back. That's a drain on Planeptune's resources, population, and shares."

"I'll place an embargo on that island," Histoire said, "it'll only be a temporary fix though." She floated over to Neptune. "As for you Neptune, we need to return you to your original form."

Neptune balked at that. "I like the change! I so totally want to rub these new melons in Blanc's face." IF scowled at her but she simply fired her friend a smile in return. "And I'm certain the people would love this new bodacious body of mine! I'll totally steal all of Vert's and Blanc's followers. And I know lot of fans of the series have been asking for a grown up version of me for a while now."

Histoire shook her head, "the people love you because of the way you were, not the way you are. The change you've undergone is not good." She gave Neptune a gentle smile. "Do not worry. I will restore you to your former self."

IF and Falcom shared confused looks, they didn't appear to be buying Histoire's words. "It may not be my place to say this," IF started slowly, "but Nep's not exactly wrong." IF gave Neptune an apologetic smile, "sorry to say this Nep, but you're pretty pathetic when it comes to being a Goddess."

"Gack! That hurts Iffy!"

"Just calling it as it is," IF said with another apologetic smile. "I've had my ear on the street for a long time. The few diehards that follow you do so because you look strong as Purple Heart, and you have that cute loli look in your normal form. However it's Histoire that's doing everything, and that's common knowledge. You're a figure head, that's what everyone believes." IF shot Histoire a look. Neptune's Oracle had an indecipherable expression on her face. "When you actually started doing work and quests, Nep, your shares shot up quickly. Far more quickly than they really should have. It's because the rest of the people actually thought you were ready to start being a Goddess instead of just looking like one. The moment you shot off to R-18 and with your subsequent disappearance, your shares dropped because again, the people grew disillusioned." IF gave her a smile. "They want to believe in you, Nep, but you can't just look the part, you need to be the part as well. Which is why I think this change might actually be good. You've actually started to say and do intelligent things. Not very many, mind you, but a marked improvement over the past. If you keep saying and doing intelligent things every now and then instead of being a complete scatterbrained idiot, the people will actually follow you instead of flip-flopping so often."

"A vote of confidence from Iffy!" Neptune said. After a moment she tilted her head to the side, "I think?"

"No, she will be returned to her original state," Histoire said. "You forget the simple fact that she has aged. This is worrisome." Neptune's Oracle turned to her and gave her a worried frown. "What if you keep aging?"

"Ah don't worry about that," Neptune said, brushing off Histoire's concern.

A vein popped out on Histoire's forehead. "This IS a big worry!"

Neptune giggled and walked over to Histoire. "I'm the main character! I'm not going to turn into some old hag, no one wants to see that. Convenient plot devices will prevent that from happening," Neptune said cheerfully and patted Histoire on the head. "So don't you worry your little head, Histy! You wouldn't want to overheat now."

"GAH!" Histoire started shake, clenching her teeth so hard a little trickle of blood started to make its way down the side of her mouth.

"Nep's probably right about that," IF grumbled under her breath. She threw a look at Falcom. "I still remember when we met you."

"That was pretty convenient for you, wasn't it?" Falcom said as she smiled back at her friend.

"NO! I forbid it!" Histoire snapped, finally popping her top. "You march right back down that hallway, Neptune! We'll sort this out right now!"

"Nuh uh!" Neptune said as she cheerfully danced out of range of Histoire's grasp. "Gotta catch me first!" She turned and bolted across the room.

"Neptune! Get back here, this is important!" Histoire shouted as she gave chase.

Neptune raced through the glass doors to the balcony overlooking Planeptune. She threw a look behind her shoulder at Histoire as the little Oracle desperately tried to catch up with her. "I'm gonna go show off my new form to the people! Maybe they'll like this better!" Neptune said to Histoire. She activated her HDD and leapt off the edge of the balcony.

"Neptune!" Histoire called after her.

The transformation took hold in midair, changing her into Purple Heart. Her pink wings glowed as they activated the anti-gravity field around her and with a blast she shot off out over the city, leaving a fuming Histoire behind.

She didn't really have a destination in mind, but Histoire's insistence changing her back to her younger body was just too strange for her to feel comfortable remaining back there. Neptune didn't even know how she would go about changing her back. She was human before she was a CPU, they all were. Histoire has always been strict and unbending, but this was something different. It shouldn't matter what she looked like, or how old she was. Vert was still a very successful CPU and she looked like an old woman.

Sort of, anyways, if looked at from the right angle in the proper lighting and Vert had a particularly worrisome frown on her face.

"Neptune!"

Neptune halted in midair and turned to watch Nepgear rapidly approach her from the direction of the Basilicom. Neptune smiled at Nepgear as she stopped a few paces back from her. "Sorry about running out of there, I needed some air."

"I don't mind," Nepgear said. She didn't look the least bit perturbed by her sudden departure. "Histoire was acting a little stricter than usual." Nepgear gave her a hesitant smile. "It… is odd that you aged, but I don't think it's that big a deal."

"Neither do I," Neptune agreed. "I understand her though. I didn't want to tell the others and make them worry, but the scan said there was some unknown code inside me, it could be what caused the transformation." Neptune frowned. "If all Histoire wanted was to remove that foreign code, I would have completely agreed with her, but she wants to undo what it did." She caught Nepgear biting her lip out of the corner of her eye. Neptune's eyes narrowed slightly. "Do you know what that code is?"

"I… might, or at least I might know someone who knows what it is." Nepgear said hesitantly.

That peaked Neptune's interest. "Who?"

"If I take you to him, you can't tell anyone!"

"Him?" Neptune arched an eyebrow, "I wasn't aware that you had a boyfriend. I can't say I approve of my little sister finding someone before me." She had been around for over two-hundred and seventy years and no one as so much as asked her out on a date. Not that she'd had any inclination to accept.

It was the principle of the matter.

Noire and Vert received so many requests they had entire teams dedicated to just sorting that junk out of their mail and burning them. Even Blanc got several every day.

Nepgear backpedalled in the air, hastily waving her arms in front of her in protest. "N-No! He's not mine, he's—"

A smile quirked across her lips. "I'll keep him a secret. I want to know what's happening to me and Histoire doesn't seem inclined to tell me." Neptune knew Histoire knew, but she was keeping it from her. She did that often when she felt it was something Neptune wouldn't understand. Normally she would respect Histoire's desire for privacy, she's always had her best interest at heart, but this was one thing Neptune felt she really couldn't afford to turn a blind eye to.

"Let me call him," Nepgear said as she placed a hand against her ear. She had modified her CPU Candidate form to include a built in communication device. A modification they'd all done during the Viral War and Nepgear felt was simply too useful for every day purposes not to have now. "It's me, are you busy?" Nepgear was silent as someone on the other end respond. She tilted her head to the side and nodded once, "something weird has happened to Neptune, we're hoping maybe you now something..." She trailed off and nodded a couple more times. "Thank you, we'll be there."

"Where are we going?" Neptune asked her little sister. It felt strange for Nepgear to have a boy's number but whatever.

"It's not far, just outside the city where…" Nepgear blushed furiously for some reason, "he trained me."

"Is he the reason you're stronger than me?" Neptune asked dryly.

"Ah hah… yes," Nepgear blushed even more as if remembering something particularly embarrassing.

A smile played across Neptune's lips. "Maybe I could get him to train me as well. As your older sister it is only right that I should be more powerful than you. It should be the older sister's duty to protect the younger."

"Ah… you might want to rethink that. I think he'd enjoy it too much," Nepgear said hesitantly. "A-Anyways, it's this way." She turned to her left and shot across the city, heading east.

Neptune quickly shot after her sister and sidled up beside her. The two of them left the city and flew high over the landscape. The moment the city disappeared from view Nepgear surprised Neptune by dropping low to the ground and abruptly heading northwards. Neptune hesitated only long enough for the surprise to disappear before she dropped to the ground and quickly followed after he sister.

They dipped down into a canyon that ran beneath a zone Neptune had passed over on her way to Lastastion to invite Noire to R-18 Island. They didn't stay down there long, as the moment they left the zone Nepgear rose out of the canyon. Neptune followed and found herself in a deep, thick forest. She could only marvel at her sister's agility. She wove between the trees effortlessly, slowing down only enough to allow Neptune to catch up.

During the brief breaks in the forest cover Neptune could see the desolate wasteland that was Gamindustri's Graveyard on her right. She had no pleasant memories of that place where millions had died during that first century after the rise of Leanbox. The wars back then had been vicious and cut throat. Vert had used every dirty tactic she could to steal their shares, and it had forced the rest of them to adopt similar strategies.

Things were better now, but Neptune still held regrets deep within her about those early years.

"We're here," Nepgear called back to her as she slowed down and stopped at a small beautiful glade. A small stream bubbled happily across the far side of the glade and the green grass beneath her feet looked enticingly soft. Sitting on a small flat boulder near the small bubbling creak was a hooded individual. The material was thick and jet black. Blood red eyes peered out at her from beneath the hood and raw darkness seemed to stream along the edges. There was a menacing aura hovering about the individual as if they were a hairs breath away from committing horrific violence.

"Is that him?" Neptune asked as she eyed the man warily. He didn't really seem like the sort of person her happy little sister would normally associate with.

Nepgear stomped her foot on the air and glowered at the man. "Code! Stop it, this is serious."

A deep chuckle emanated from the depths of the hood. A smoky black hand reached for them hem of the robe and with a quick, grandiose flourish, ripped it from his body and tossed it to the side. The dark laughter changed into a light hearted chuckle once the cloak was gone, and the blood red eyes changed into a pair of soft green ones framed by spiky blond hair.

"Sorry, couldn't resist," the man Nepgear called Code said with a wide smile on his face.

Nepgear turned to her and gestured to the man sitting on the rock. "Neptune, this is Code."

Code was a powerful looking man with a super unique description, something that was incredibly rare in Gamindustri. His glossy black skin-hugging armor showed off an incredible set of abdominal muscles, although his legs were covered by a thick black skirt that ran down to his feet and was tied up by a black belt with a dark purple gem inset in the center of it. Across his back was a double-bladed spear that hummed with power.

"And Code, as you know, this is Neptune," Nepgear said, seeming to add that last bit out of formality than any real need to introduce Neptune to him.

"Nice to meet you again, Neptune!" Code said cheerfully.

"Again?" Neptune asked.

"Oh, I suppose this is for the first time for you," Code frowned to himself.

"You were the one that brought Nepgear back in time, weren't you?" Neptune asked. She already knew the answer, it was the only thing that made sense.

A depressed, regretful look darkened his face. "Yes, the future we're from isn't… particularly nice."

"You never really told me how bad it got after Noire killed me," Nepgear said softly. "Only what happened to Neptune."

"I would like to know what sort of future my little sister came from as well," Neptune said as she floated closer to the unique man, "she hides it well, but I can see the pain in her eyes at times."

"There is no Planeptune in the future, not really anyways," Code said seriously. Nepgear lowered her head and a single tear drop ran down her face. It was obvious from what Nepgear had experienced she had expected that outcome. "The Viral War that occurred essentially destroyed it and sent what fragments were left into a spiral of destruction." He shifted his gaze to her and it became filled with regret and remorse. "You become viral, I suppose you could say Noire's virus spreads to you and you… take _drastic_ steps to rebuild Planeptune."

Neptune's eyes narrowed, she didn't like how he emphasized that word. "What do you mean by drastic?"

Code let out a long sigh, "The only way to ensure that no nation was greater than Planeptune was to make sure that there were no other nations." Neptune felt her eyes widen in surprise. "You kill Noire and Uni. Then you burn Lastastion to the ground and everyone living within." Nepgear gasped in shock and Neptune reared back in surprise. That was not something she could ever imagine doing. Noire was one of her closest friends. "Then you siege Leanbox, bombarding it into oblivion and kill Vert's little sister." He let out another long sigh. "And then things got really bad. I heard about what happened out west, in Gallia Forest." He took a deep breath. "That is nothing compared to what happens."

"I won't let that happen!" Neptune said fiercely. She wasn't going to let Gamindustri fall into ruin. "Do you know what's wrong with me? Histoire scanned my status and it came up with numerous warnings, and the sudden growth of my body is not natural. A CPU is not supposed to age."

"It's not the start of the viral infection, is it?" Nepgear asked fearfully. Her question brought a new fear to Neptune's mind.

It was quickly dispelled however when Code shook his head. "Actually, that's probably all my fault." He admitted sheepishly.

Nepgear looked as confused as Neptune felt. "What do you mean your fault?" Nepgear asked him.

He raised his hand up for them to see and a string of seemingly random code flickered from the tip of his pinky finger to his thumb. "This is… a vaccine I guess you could say, against the super virus that infected Noire and Neptune of our time," Code said as he stared at the code streaming from finger to thumb. "It's useless on someone that is completely infected but…" he looked up at her. "If it is administered to a CPU before they get infected, it will allow their bodies to create antibodies and protective measures against the infection. In theory, anyways. Unfortunately there… ah sort of weren't very many CPUs left in my time when I finally finished developing the vaccine, and no time to really test it out. Blanc was all that was left and if it failed well…" He trailed off.

"So it's like updating an anti-virus before the virus hits you, you can spot it before it takes root and kill it, but if it takes root, it will corrupt any attempt to cure it?" Neptune asked.

"Yes, exactly." He sounded surprised that she caught on so quickly. Was it really that surprising? It wasn't like she was stupid, she just didn't like to think, something that was starting to change slowly, probably on account what was wrong with her.

Neptune crossed her arms beneath her breasts. "What does this have to do with my issues?" she asked as she made a small gesture at herself.

His eyes were drawn to her breasts for a brief moment before he averted his gaze embarrassed. "I managed to impart a small portion of the cure into you awhile back," Code said quietly. "I ah… got interrupted before I could finish. That incomplete cure is probably causing your HDD to malfunction since it doesn't know how to handle it. It's basically just junk code right now, taking up processor power and memory space."

"So my age is a result of a malfunction?" Neptune asked incredulously. That seemed too weird to be true.

"Yes, I've theorized that being a CPU doesn't 'stop' you from aging, it simply holds it back, like a dam holds back water. I believe if you were to lose your HDD, your divinity, you would very rapidly age to the point where you should have been." He gave her an apologetic smile for some reason. "Which for you would probably mean death, since you've lived far longer than the average lifespan of a human."

"So your code caused me to lose my divinity for a brief time, and that's why my body aged." Code's theory made some sense. No one really knew a whole lot about what a CPU actually was. They simply took it for granted that they were. And if he was correct, then it would explain her sudden growth and would account for all the physical changes she had gone through.

"Code, when did you have time to place some of the cure inside Neptune?" Nepgear asked curiously.

"Probably when I almost drowned," Neptune said dryly. She remembered waking up on a beach in Leanbox and seeing someone flying away really fast. "That was you, wasn't it? The one that dragged me from the ocean onto a beach in Leanbox."

"That was me," he admitted.

"So that means you were the one that took my first kiss," Neptune said.

"Ah!" Code quickly held his arms up before him like a shield. There was a light blush on his cheeks. "I did it to save your life you know! It's not like it was a romantic kiss or anything," he added hurriedly to cover himself.

"I know," she wasn't upset by what he had done. As much as her human self had joked about the situation, she was thankful for his help. "So what's required to fix this? I think Histoire might throw a colossal fit if I age anymore."

"I think most people would," Code said as he pushed himself up off the rock. "A pre-teen Neptune or a teenage Neptune, both appeal to a wide variety of individuals, often overlapping individuals. An older, mature Neptune, is something quite a bit different. As much as one's personality might dictate who might worship them, there are a lot of shallow people in Gamindustri that really do only care about appearances."

"So?" He seemed to be stalled for some reason.

"I was actually hoping to do this while you were asleep so you wouldn't notice. I'm not quite sure how to do this with you awake." He admitted.

"Spit it out," Neptune said as an unfamiliar feeling of annoyance bubbled up inside her.

"Well the thing is, I started the code insertion through a kiss," Code said, "so I sort of have to finish it using the same method."

Oh. She had to fight back the heat that tried to work its way up her cheeks. Now she could understand why he felt that way.

"And, uh, it's not a particularly quick process. It's been so long I'd have to go find where the code I inserted before ended up, analyze how much it has degraded, fix any corruption of the binary blocks that might have appeared, and only then can I proceed to input the rest of it, which is to say, most of it."

"So what's the problem? Is there some reason you wouldn't want to kiss me?" Neptune asked. Histoire's comment about how no one should want to kiss her from awhile back still stung a little.

Nepgear started to laugh and Code looked away sheepishly. "Actually, sis, it's probably the opposite." Nepgear said as she threw a teasing smile at Code, "he's embarrassed because he loves you and doesn't know how to go about expressing it."

"You didn't need to say that!" Code hissed at Nepgear causing her to laugh. "She doesn't feel that way about me in return!"

"I'm afraid I can't return the feelings. While you may know me, I know nothing of you." Neptune said with a light shake of her head. "You are little more than a stranger, even if you are well acquainted with Nepgear."

Nepgear chuckled and nudged her in the side with her elbow, "Code knows how to make a pudding that tastes better than your favorite custard pudding."

Neptune twitched violently as a jolt of electricity shot up her body. For some reason her mouth was salivating badly and she had a strong urge to drag Code to the nearest kitchen. "I… I refuse to believe that. I… would have to taste that pudding first before I can judge the veracity of that claim."

"It takes a lot of effort," Code said tiredly as if he was weighed down by a thousand tons. He gave her an exhausted smile, "I can't make it for just anyone. Nepgear and I are close, so I make it for her, but if I'm a stranger to you…"

Her hands clenched into fists as she struggled to calm herself down. She knew they were baiting her but the thought, just the thought, of tasting pudding greater than her custard pudding was incredibly enticing. And Nepgear, despite discovering her new mischievous side, was still a very honest and down to earth girl. She wouldn't straight out lie over something like this.

"Enough about the pudding!" Neptune shouted and pointed a finger at him. "We'll talk about that more later, but first I need that vaccine completed." That was the most important thing here. A small niggling worry clawed at the back of her mind that he was lying about what the code actually was, but it was a tiny worry, and one that she squashed ruthlessly.

If things were left as they were, it would only get worse, and Histoire's odd behavior back there had set off some warning bells that Neptune didn't even knew she had. Besides, Nepgear seemed to trust him explicitly, and that was good enough for Neptune.

"Of course, you are right, that is why you are here," Code agreed. He didn't make any move though, as if he was hesitant or didn't know what to do next.

"Code! Here, have some of this," Nepgear said. Neptune threw her a quick glance and then did a double take when she noticed a half-eaten cup of pudding in one hand and a spoon in the other. And then the smell hit her. It was absolutely intoxicating and she had to swallow hard as saliva rapidly built up in her mouth. She didn't know something could smell so divine.

"That couldn't be…" Neptune whispered, her voice came out sounding harsh.

"Here Code, say aww…" Nepgear said as she spooned the rest of the pudding onto the spoon and held it out for Code to eat.

Neptune's eyebrow twitched violently. That should be her Nepgear was feeding, not Code. This was ridiculous; it was obvious that Code, in his love for her, had developed a new pudding that surpassed her favorite. By rights that pudding should be hers. Her anger flared at the thought of being denied _her_ pudding. She bit back a short protest in her throat as Code slowly opened his mouth. Her eyes widened in horror as the spoon that was almost overflowing with pudding, slowly made its way into that cavernous opening. The spoon entered the mouth and the lips began to close.

"NO!" Neptune shouted and raced across the grounds.

A moment later her lips were locked with his and her tongue dug into his mouth, searching, grasping for that pudding he had taken in. It was hers and she would have it! She felt Code start to laugh, saw the mirth appear in his eyes, but she didn't care, she would have that pudding. She grasped his head firmly in both her hands and dug her fingers through his hair so that he couldn't pull away.

And then it was there, his tongue slipped into her mouth and deposited upon her tongue that delicious pudding. Her senses exploded in sheer pleasure. Her taste buds danced with joy. She felt her eyes roll into the back of her head as the soothingly sweet taste washed over her body. It was as if she had been dipped in a bath filled with pudding in a room made entirely out of pudding with pudding waterfalls. It enveloped her entire body, caressing every inch of her skin with its warm, luscious smoothness and rich texture. Her breathing became labored, her arousal peaked. The taste, the smell, it was too much for her. Never before had anything ever tasted so delicious. She was not letting this man go, she didn't care what anyone said. That pudding, she must have it again.

He had ruined her, made her, his. Never again would she be able to truly enjoy a pudding aside from his. And she didn't care, it was just that good. Of course, she'd make his life a living nightmare if he even so much as tried to deny her that delicious pudding.

She didn't know how long she floated there, quivering in ecstasy, but when the sensations finally began to dull, she noticed something flowing inside her. Their lips were still locked, his tongue gently caressing hers and his arms were wrapped around her back, hugging her close, pressing her chest tightly against his.

Neptune flared her energy into her wings and pushed on him a little. He let his knees bend and she settled him back down on the rock he had been sitting on when they'd first arrived. Then she floated down and rested herself on his lap in a kneeling position, with her legs stretched out beside his own. She didn't know how long he needed to fix the injected code, but they might as well be comfortable while he did it.

Curious to know more about this man who could make such divine pudding, Neptune leaned back slightly, pulling Code with her so that she could see above his head. She untangled one hand from his hair and slowly traced her fingers down his back. Without him seeming to notice, as his eyes were glazed over as he explored the inner workings of her body, she added him to her party and checked out his stats.

Her eyes widened in surprise as the nanomachines in the air built a floating interface with a set of measurements on it.

** Name**: M. Code  
** Level**: 415  
** HP**: 27,185  
** SP**: 87,918  
** Str**: 2,115  
** Vit**: 1,980  
** Int**: 8,020  
** Men**: 9,800  
** Agi**: 7,580  
** Tec**: 1,575  
** Luk**: 55  
** Mov**: 99

"He's powerful, right?" Nepgear said as she noticed what Neptune was doing. Neptune noted that Code and Nepgear were already in a party, so she could see his stats as well. "We were all around that level due to the Viral War. I have a ways to go before I am as strong as I was." A soft smile crossed Nepgear's lips when her gaze shifted to the Mental and Intellect stats. "He's still as lopsided as always. He's wasn't very strong compared to you or any of the others, not physically anyways. Even Rom was stronger than him. But no one could match his magical capabilities."

Neptune shifted her eyes to the Luck stat. A laughable fifty-five, which was strange for someone who was almost level four hundred.

"He actually has negative luck," Nepgear said sadly as she noticed what Neptune was looking at. "He has to wear several luck enhancing items just to make it positive. For some reason, no matter how many levels he gains, it never increases." An oddity for an odd individual. Everything about Code was odd.

The end came not long after that. The long line of ones and zeroes that left his mouth and entered his ceased and she felt a warm glow nestle beneath her bosom. Her focus returned to his face, he was focused now, on her, and there was what appeared to be an apology in his eyes. She was about to pull away and question that look when she felt his right hand slip beneath the front of her body suit and cup her right breast.

Her eyes shot open wide and she heard Nepgear gasp to the side.

Before she could wonder what he was doing a jolt left his hand and shot through her breast. The warm glow in her bosom ignited into a raging inferno that threatened to consume her.

She roughly pulled away from his kiss and gasped for breath. She gripped his wrist and tried to pull his hand out from her suit. It didn't move an inch. Despite Nepgear's statement that he was weak, right now he was still far stronger than her. "W-What was that and what are you doing?"

"I finished writing the executable to your HDD," Code said, "And sorry about this," he nodded towards his hand, "I need to monitor it, just in case I messed up. I'm not perfect."

"Why do I feel so hot?" She demanded. It felt like her body was on fire, that couldn't be a good thing.

"The executable is mimicking the virus," Code explained to her, "it's going through all the same motions, attacking the syntax structure of your HDD. However unlike the actual virus, it's not rewriting anything, it's just going through the motions. I can already feel the built in anti-virus shields taking note of the odd behaviour and the irregular access of the executable, it's only a matter of time before they perceive it as a threat and create a counter-measure for it."

She believed him. Despite the heat she didn't feel any actual changes occurring inside her.

"And this?" She jerked on his wrist again but it didn't budge. At least he wasn't fondling her. He just seemed to be resting his palm against her skin.

"Like I said, sorry, but I need to monitor it. Just to make sure the executable doesn't mutate," Code said, "I can end the execution the moment I notice any shifts in my vaccination program, but I need to notice it before it mutates beyond the ability to terminate the executable."

Neptune fumed for a moment before an idea blinked into her mind. She let her hand drop to her side and relented to his touch. "Fine, but you owe me a pudding for this."

"But I'm doing this for you—" he stopped as she leveled a steady look on him. He let out a sigh and relented, "fine, but only one. I'm not even feeling you up. This can't be worth more than one pudding."

Victory! That was one pudding secured. She'd have to work on securing more in the future.

She laid a hand gently on his chest and pushed him back so that they were sitting in an upright position again. "We'll hash out how much value your pudding has later," Neptune said. It wasn't like his touch was unpleasant. He was being very gentle with her. So she relaxed and let the heat wash over her body. She could feel her natural defenses really kick in and go to work cleansing herself of the executable file that Code had created within her. She trusted he would take good care of her body while it did so.

After all, anyone that could make pudding that good had to be one of the good guys.

* * *

**Author's Note:** If you haven't figured out what Xone is supposed to represent, it's the Xbox One. Xbox doesn't have a hand-held console so I had to make do with what I could. As for CFW Judge, he's 'connection' with Xone can also be linked to the ill-fated Kinect system that the Xbone originally had with it.


	15. Subterfuge

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hyperdimension Neptunia. All characters, thoughts and ideas that exist in this story that were taken from the original works belong to their creators, Compile Heart and Idea Factory. Only original thoughts and or characters created in this story are my own.**

**Note about CFW Judge: **I know that he's not supposed to represent the Kinect. I wasn't saying that he was. It was simply supposed to be a small nod to the Kinect, nothing more. Probably should have said nothing at all and kept it merely one more subtle thing hidden in my story.

**Chapter 15: Subterfuge**

Vert woke up with a start to a strange white room she didn't recognize at first. Everything around her was white, the walls, the ceiling, the floor, and even the bed and sheets were white. Even the machines were white with white tubes and wiring. It was a very severe and depressing location and she vowed right then to have a décor change. It needed more green and yellow.

A couple moments after deciding on how to adjust the décor of the room realization kicked in.

Memories of those last few moments bombarded her: The battle for the Sharicite Crystal, CFW Judge's last desperate gamble to kill them, her desperate attempt to protect Xone from total immolation, the pain and crushing darkness that followed afterwards. Anger flared momentarily inside her as the realization that she'd lost the Sharicite crystal and almost been killed, hit her.

She quickly fought down the anger and took stock of her situation. She knew she wasn't dead, or even in Celestial. Everything was too plain and white, so much so that even Blanc would disapprove.

There was a window on her right, the curtains were drawn but she could still see the silhouette of a towering rectangular shaped object in the distance through them. She was in Leanbox, her Capital. And judging by the machines around her and how close the Basilicom was, this had to be Leanbox Hospital One. She was the only one in the large white room, although it was filled to the brim with Leanbox's latest medical technologies.

This was obviously the VIP treatment room. Of course she would expect to be treated in nothing less considering she was the CPU of Leanbox. Thankfully it didn't carry with it the standard smell of anti-septic as most hospital rooms did. It wasn't used enough and was part of a different air filtration system. Plus the scented pots scattered around the room gave off a pleasant aroma.

There wasn't anyone else in the room at the moment and Vert wanted answers she'd have to get them herself.

She shivered lightly as the cold tiles of the hospital floor bit into her bare feet. She settled gingerly on her feet, her legs felt a little weak after being unused for however long she had been out, but they held, if barely. The air of the room was as cool as the floor was, and quickly chased away the warmth she'd experienced beneath the blankets. Vert glanced down at her naked body and shook her head.

This wouldn't do.

Vert pulled out her normal green and white dress from her inventory and donned it. "This is much better," she murmured quietly beneath her breath as the chill of the room was banished with the appearance of her clothes.

Now to find out what had happened while she was unconscious.

Vert made her way across the room to the sole exit. Slowly at first, and then with more speed and certainty as her legs grew stronger with each step. By the time she reached the door she was back to her normal stride.

She opened the door and stuck her head out into the hallway beyond. The two Federal Investigation of Bureaus, or FIB, agents standing on guard on either side of the door jumped in surprise at her sudden appearance.

They quickly recovered. "Lady Green Heart!" Both of them said in perfect unison with identical voices and saluted her. They were dressed identical as well with matching pairs of black glasses and elegant black business suits.

They were NPCs worthy enough to have a description, but not important enough to have a unique one.

"Yes, yes," Vert waved away their greetings, "where is Xone?" She needed to know how her soon-to-be little sister was.

"Lady Xone is in another room," they said in unison. Vert twitched a little, their overlapping voices were a little grating on her ears.

"Take me there," Vert commanded them.

"Yes Lady Green Heart," They said together and saluted her again.

It turned out Xone's room was directly across from hers, even the door was. The FIB agents simply shifted to the other side of the hallway and opened the door for her.

Vert swept into the room startling a pair of random generic NPC doctors. The two of them were hovering over the room's sole bed. The room was identical to hers in every way, including the pots of scented water that banished the anti-septic smell from the room.

"Lady Green Heart!" the doctor gasped in surprise.

"How is my Xone?" Vert demanded as she quickly made her way across the room.

"Ah, well, you see…" the doctors hesitated and shared a look. "Maybe it's best if you see for yourself."

Vert pushed past them and stared down at the young girl she had picked up. Her breath hitched in her throat when her eyes landed upon her. Xone was laid out across the bed on top of the blankets. She was unconscious and her breathing was shallow but that was the least of the issues. Her left arm was gone, severed at the shoulder, and she could a few tubes winding their way through her flesh, their invasive protrusions looking disturbing as they made bulges in the skin. The tubes ran out the right side of her abdomen and were attached to the severed head of the very villain that had caused them so much pain.

"So the fleshy bitch with the oversized tits finally decided to wake her lazy ass up?" the annoying, mechanic voice grated at her. It was a voice she had hoped she'd never hear again.

Vert pointed angrily at the severed head. "Why is this thing not disposed of?" she demanded the two doctors.

"Stupid PMSing bitch can't open her eyes and see the situation for what it is, typical retarded Goddess, this woman is far better than you are."

Vert rounded on the head and glared at him angrily. "Excuse me!"

"Lady Green Heart, we can explain," the doctors said hurriedly.

"Then explain!"

"Well you see—"

"Without me your stupid bitchy ass would be dead and buried beneath ten thousand tons of rock and earth!" The severed head of CFW Judge tried to gesture towards Xone, "and so would the woman. As it is, right now, I'm the only thing keeping her alive."

"You were the one that put her in this condition!" Vert snapped at the severed head angrily. "And me!"

"I sure was! And I'd slaughter your ass again if I could… only above ground," CFW Judge admitted, "and maybe I'd spare the woman, she's got the tenacity of a machine, she's not so bad."

"L-Lady Green Heart—"

"What?!" Vert snapped at the doctor.

The doctor flinched violently and quickly raised his hands in peace, "L-Lady Xone is in a coma. Her mind believes the body is dead. While the mind still functions, it has stopped sending signals to the body. This… head here, is keeping the body alive by controlling the organs for her."

"More than just her organs!" CFW Judge said and let out loud raucous laughter. "I keep the blood flowing and cells multiplying. I'm in every nook and crevice of her body from the tips of her toes to the base of her skull. I'm coiled around every organ, her heart, her lungs, her liver, and much more. I'm around and inside all of it, keeping it alive."

Vert glared murderously at the severed head before leveling that same glare on the terrified doctors. "Why has that thing not been removed? Does my nation not have the ability to support a failing organ?"

"W-We do… yes…" the doctors stammered in unison, "b-but only if we had gotten to her before the head integrated itself with her. W-We don't have the technology to extract him safely. The organ failures are catastrophic and wide spread, e-even with our technology there's no guarantee we can keep her alive like he is."

Vert grabbed the severed head in a crushing grip. "Get out of my Xone!"

"Ow! Hell no bitch! I know damn well what will happen the moment I pull out. I'm staying inside her and you just have to suffer that fact."

Vert reared back and started to think. There had to be some way of getting him out of her. No matter how she looked at the situation, it was bad. She could force Xone into wakefulness if she found the Sharicite Crystal. The transformation to CPU Candidate would boost the conscious and make it realize that she was still alive. But she couldn't apply it without the Sharicite crystal, or while CFW Judge was inside Xone.

She needed both, to get him out of her and to get the Crystal.

"I will be back," Vert vowed and turned from the bed. She'd contact Histoire. Planeptune was the most advanced nation in Gamindustri. They may have some method of extract that surpassed Leanbox. Leanbox didn't exactly specialize in medical technology. And if Histoire knew nothing, she'd contact Blanc. Lowee had various magical means of healing and restoration that could be of use.

A search for the stolen Sharicite crystal would need to be arranged as well.

**~o~**

CFW Judge grinned at Vert's backside as she swept from the hospital room. That foolish, stupid woman had no idea what was really going on. If she did, she'd have probably destroyed him regardless of the consequences to Xone.

His thoughts turned to the woman he was in control of. He liked this Xone, she was very useful and in some ways, very machine like with her stubbornness and precision. He'd keep her alive as long as he could.

Of course, in the mean time he'd keep her consciousness locked away and block her neural impulses to the rest of her body. He couldn't have her waking up and discovering what he was doing. He needed time while he worked on rebuilding a new body inside her womb. By the time the doctors realized what was going on, it would be too late.

He might even let Xone live afterwards, for all her hard work in getting him out of that nightmarish hell and giving him a nice, warm, safe place to rebuild himself.

**x~X~x**

Neptune and Nepgear floated down to the balcony of their sanctuary, having just returned from the forest where Code had fixed Neptune up. The Goddess of Planeptune felt much better now, better than ever really. The executable file that Code had placed in her had stirred her internal defenses and made them act. Their first act had been to neutralize the executable and its attack patterns, bolstering the security where it needed to be. And then her virus shields had gone one step further and had fixed up all the other little niggling issues that had affected her performance, but hadn't been severe enough to warrant taking any action.

As a result she felt better now than she could remember in a long time. She gently touched her breast. For some reason she could still feel the touch of his fingers against her skin, the heat of his palm, the touch of his tongue.

The taste of that delicious pudding that she needed more of.

But that would be later. He had promised he'd make her another one and she would hold him to that or she'd hunt him down and force him to make it.

Neptune smile at Nepgear who returned a huge smile of her own. Her smile widened and she deactivated her HDD transformation. Unlike the last time where there had been issues, this transition was seamless. Her body shifted and changed as she returned to her teenage form. She wouldn't ever be able to return to her normal childish form, but she was alright like this.

"Histy! Everyone! I'm back!" Neptune said cheerfully, waving to everyone in the room as she stepped through the glass doors into the lounging area beyond.

"Hello, Nep," IF said without turning around, seemingly more interested in the glass table in front of her than Neptune's return.

"Where have you been young lady?" Histoire said sternly as she floated over to her and Nepgear. Her little sister had by this time taken to her normal form like Neptune. "Do you have any idea how worried I was?"

Neptune scratched the back of her head sheepishly and gave Histoire an apologetic smile. "Sorry Histy." She scratched Histoire under the chin.

"Stop that, I'm not a cat!" Histoire snapped and tried to swat Neptune's fingers away.

"We're sorry for being gone for so long," Nepgear apologized to Histoire, bowing low before the pint sized Oracle. "I took her to a friend of mine."

"Yup! You don't gotta overheat with worry anymore Histy!" Neptune said cheerfully, "that unknown code sequence in me is all fixed now! It was actually this first part of the cure for the Super Virus that infects Noire in the future. I'm immune now to the virus status! See?" Neptune bent forward a little and displayed her new status to her friends. Along with her normal stats there was a virus immunity icon.

"Ah, I am too," Nepgear said, blushing furiously as she displayed her status to them as well.

Neptune grinned at her sister. After Code was finished with her she had insisted that he do the same to Nepgear. She didn't want to be the only one immune to the virus. Nepgear had protested vigorously but between the two of them they'd managed to wrestle her to the ground. And now an hour later, they were both back in Planeptune, thoroughly inoculated against the future threat.

"How? That shouldn't be possible," Histoire said, sounding mystified by the change in their status.

"What's more apparently it was that weird half-vaccine stage thingy that caused my aging!" Neptune added happily as she patted Histoire on the head much to the little Oracle's annoyance. "But now that it's all finished and gone there's no more worries of further aging!"

"That's really good," Compa said, sounding relieved as she made her way over to them. "An old saggy Nep-Nep would be really weird."

"No sag here!" Neptune said as she proudly thrust her chest forward.

"Who's this friend of yours, Gear?" IF asked, looking up at them for the first time.

"I can't say," Nepgear said, "I promised my friend. But don't worry. I'm sure you'll meet soon, just not now." She added quickly to reassure them when their looks became suspicious.

"Did Ge-Ge get a boyfriend?" Compa asked Nepgear eagerly.

"No! I won't let her! He's mine!" Neptune protested furiously.

A heavy silence descended upon the room as everyone turned to stare at her in shock.

"WHAT?!" everyone shouted at the same time.

"He's mine!" Neptune stated firmly, placing her hands on her hips and thrusting her chin into the air as high as she could. "I'm going to marry him, and that's that."

Nepgear gaped at her and Falcom looked just plain shocked. Histoire was vibrated violently and steam started to erupt from her ears. She looked as if she was having a nervous breakdown. Compa simply blinked at Neptune as if she had no idea what to say.

IF groaned and palmed her face. "Nep… I don't want to know, but I feel for the sake of all our sanities I must ask, but why?"

"You said you didn't care about him like that," Nepgear added as well.

Neptune made some tsking sounds as she shook her index finger at them. "My little sis, you just don't get it. He loves me, and I love his pudding. It's a match made in Celestia."

"Wait, pudding?" IF sounded even more confused Histoire was starting to shake so badly blood was leaking from her lips, again.

"Yes!" Neptune said and pointed her finger to the sky. "I'll call it Neptune's Eternity Pudding! Or NEP for short. It's something he created especially for me. If I marry him, I get to keep him at my side all the time and I can force him to make more of that delicious pudding. After all, it is a man's duty to support the main character! And as a support character, his duty will be to supply me with an unlimited supply of Neptune's Eternity Pudding."

"Oh, sis…" Nepgear groaned and bowed her head sadly.

IF shook her head and sighed. "That makes absolutely no sense, which means it sounds exactly like something Nep would say. I am both reassured by this, and taken aback, once again, by this completely random direction Nep seems to have run off in."

"What do you mean Iffy?" Neptune asked, tilting her head to the side. She thought it was a perfectly acceptable situation. He got to marry her, and she got delicious pudding. It was a win-win situation for everyone.

"That's not what marriage is," IF said exasperated, "marriage occurs when two people agree to be joined together because they love each other."

"We do love each other. He loves me, I love his pudding, and we both want to live with each other for those very reasons, its marriage!"

"There's more to marriage than just that, Nep-Nep," Compa said in a gentle, soothing voice. "There's kissing and touching,"

"Well we've already done that too," Neptune said, thrusting her chest forward proudly. "He touched me all over while we kissed for several hours."

Another heavy silence filled the air as they all stared at her like she had just gone insane. The silence continued until a whistling sound drew their attention to Histoire. Her face was pure red, thick, white steam was pouring out of her ears, and so much blood was dripping down her nose and out of her mouth if it kept up much longer she ran the risk of passing out due to blood loss.

And then with a pop Histoire erupted.

"!^&amp; , &amp;^! $ # (!&amp;$ , $&amp;#*!" Histoire's voice came out in a high pitch scream, her words unintelligible. Her hands and arms flailed in the air as she tried to punctuate a point she couldn't properly enunciate.

"Whoa, Histy went into full blown Pisty Mode. Maybe she evolved in Super Pisty 2?" Neptune said as she bent down to peer at her Oracle. "I think she broke something." She circled around the raging Histoire who didn't even seem to know she had moved.

"Way to go Nep, you broke your Oracle," IF said dryly. "Again, I might add."

"She'll be fine!" Neptune said cheerfully. Out of curiosity she poked Histoire's cheek. There was a crackle pop and Histoire's eyes glazed over as her processor overheated. Neptune caught her before she could fall to the floor and cradled the small oracle in the palms of her hands. "Oh, she's conked out, poor little thing is all tuckered out."

An idea popped into Neptune's head and she quickly pulled out a set of small cosplay clothes that she had randomly appeared in her inventory on her way back. She didn't know how they got there but they fit Histoire just right. She quickly pulled off Histoire's dress, socks and shoes and put on the new outfit she had found for Histoire.

"Nep-Nep, what are you doing to Histy?" Compa asked.

"I'm dressing her up!" Neptune said proudly as she showed off Histoire to everyone. The small fairy oracle was dressed up as a dominatrix in full black leather that showed far more skin than it covered. There was even a tiny little whip attached to her hip.

"Nep, Histoire will pop her top again if she wakes up like that," IF pointed out.

"Ah, don't worry about it," Neptune said, waving away IF's concern. She grinned at the dressed up Histoire. "I'll call this Histoire, Doministy!"

IF groaned again and Falcom gently patted her shoulder, "Come on IF, let's go get a drink," Falcom said to the stressed out brunette.

"I think I could use one right about now," IF agreed and slowly made her way to the door.

"Aww, going home already?" Neptune whined, "come on, stay a little longer, let's play some games!"

"Sorry, Nep, but I'm kind of really tired right now, and I have this pounding headache," she tapped her temple, "right here, that just keeps coming back."

If she wasn't feel well she should have said something. Neptune didn't believe in keeping people from their precious sleep when they were sick. "Oh, alright, see you later then!" Neptune said and waved them goodbye.

"Wait for me Iffy," Compa said as she hurried after Falcom and IF.

"Maybe you should put Histoire to bed, I'll go make us some tea," Nepgear suggested.

"Right-on my precious little sister!" Neptune fired a wide smile at her little sister. "And then we can stay up all night playing games! I haven't felt this good in like ages."

"Sure," Nepgear said, returning her smile before heading off towards the kitchen.

Neptune lifted Histoire again and peered at her intently. "Maybe I should doodle on her face as well."

**~o~**

"Ugh," Histoire moaned as she slowly regained consciousness. Her head hurt, which happened frequently ever since she turned Neptune into a CPU.

It was night now, the moonlight spilled into her room at the Basilicom along with the lights of Planeptune. Neptune had put her to bed after she had overheated, a thoughtful act on part of her, but it didn't make up for all the other trouble she had caused today. She needed to adjust her plans, there were so many strange things happening. Her carefully crafted plan was rapidly spinning out of control.

She couldn't care less that Neptune aged a little, that wasn't a major concern for Histoire, although she made it out like it was to deflect her real concern. However now that Neptune felt that she was cured, she'd vigorously reject any attempts Histoire might make to get her back into that machine.

Neptune was chosen as the CPU of Planeptune because she was a Blank Slate. If she developed an Ego, that status would be compromised and would ruin everything Histoire had worked towards. She couldn't let that continue. She'd break Neptune's Ego and return her to that instinctual state even if she had to force it. Thankfully, the growth of her Ego didn't appear to be too far along so Histoire still had some time to prepare.

A breeze blew across her stomach, causing her to shiver slightly. She glanced down at herself and blinked "W-What is this?!' Histoire gaped at her outfit. It was absolutely ridiculous! She looked like a dominatrix. Neptune was behind this, she just knew it. She'd give that girl a lecture like she never had!

A shadow fell upon the room. "I know Neptune way too well," a long dead voice shattered her thoughts. Fear gripped her heart as she slowly turned to regard someone that shouldn't exist, someone that could not exist.

"M-M. C-Code…" Histoire squeaked out as she stared at the man sitting on the window sill, blocking the moonlight.

"Hello, Histoire," Code greeted her. There was a predatory look in his eyes, eyes that glowed even with his face shadowed by the moonlight. "I would like to say it's been awhile, but it really hasn't."

Histoire floated back as far as she could. Perhaps if she made a run for the door she could scream for help before it was too late. "W-What are you doing here? How are you alive? I—"

"Killed me?" Code asked with an arched eyebrow. Histoire nodded quickly. "You did kill me, or rather, a different version of me."

No, he couldn't be. It couldn't be possible.

"It is possible," Code said, reading her thoughts like an open book, "or did you really think that out of all the infinite dimensions out there that in at least one of them, _we_ couldn't win?"

That truth struck her like a blow to the face. It was possible, there were so many dimensions of Gamindustri that it was possible. Their victory was never truly one-hundred percent complete, the results of that war, the first war, the war between Virullial and the True Goddess that led to the death of both, continued to plague all dimensions long after. The scars were still visible for those that knew where to look. The random viral mutation of monsters was one such scar. Her siblings, the other books, always died, the True Goddess, always died and Histoire was always left alone. But so did Virullial and her children.

However the odds of probability dictated that if something continued on until infinity, so long as the chance of something occurring wasn't zero, it would occur, eventually.

And now that improbability was sitting here, before her now.

"Why are you here?" Histoire demanded as she floated closer to the door.

M. Code disappeared. There was a howl of wind and suddenly he was behind her. Between her and the door. There was no escape now.

"Would you believe me if I told you I'm not here for you?" Code asked quietly.

"Of course not you viral monster!" Histoire hissed at him.

Code sighed and flicked the back of Histoire's head, "well it's the truth. Even monsters can change you know, even monsters can yearn for the light, even monsters… can fall in love."

"What?" That was not what she expected.

"I love Neptune, Histoire," Code said quietly. "I say that, truly, honestly. Of course, twisted as I am I realize that my love may be twisted as well, but it's the only love I am capable of, and it's all hers."

"You can't honestly expect me to believe that," Histoire said as she turned around and backed away from him, towards the window. Perhaps she could escape through that.

"You don't know what Viraldustri is like, Histoire," Code said as he slowly padded across the room towards her like a monster stalking its prey. "Darkness so deep that light can't penetrate it, a place where cheerful laughter hasn't been heard in over ten thousand years. A place where positivity has long since been snuffed out, and the only love that exists, is the love of pain and suffering." He stopped and peered at her intently. "But Neptune is the exact opposite. Her smile broke through that darkness inside me. Her laughter brought joy to where joy had never been felt before. Her positive attitude gave me the desire to look forward to tomorrow, and the way she cares for everything and everyone filled my empty heart with warmth."

"Neptune won't return your love!"

"Not with you here, you mean," Code corrected her, "I know Neptune gets showered in love letters, marriage proposals, requests for dates, and the like, but you destroy them before Neptune is even aware they exist. She's gone her _entire life_ thinking no one wants her. _You_ started the Console War for the sole purpose of creating a rift between the CPUs too large to ever 'truly' bridge. You only allowed it to end when continuing the Console War started to look like a worse alternative."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Histoire said quickly. There was no way he could possibly know that for fact.

Code scowled at her. "I suppose you're also ignorant of why she is so cheerful and carefree. Why she is so willing to trust others, why she reaches out to everyone around her as if begging them to reach back. You're deliberately keeping the development of her Ego and her growth as a person stunted."

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. She took that distraction to make a dash for the window but his hand shot out and gripped the edge of her book, preventing her from making it very far.

His eye snapped open, fixating on her. There was no warmth within those depths. "I'm going to put it to you this way, Histoire," he finally said. "I will have Neptune. I will take her using any means necessary. I won't let that light, that joy, that love, disappear." He leaned forward and his eyes began to glow malevolently. "I won't let you initiate the Revival Protocol."

Histoire gasped in surprise. How did he know about that?

"Because I told him," Histoire heard her own voice come back to her. From behind Code popped out another Histoire, another version of her. Only this one was dressed up like she was a dominatrix. Her blue eyes were a deep red and what should have been beautiful golden locks, were a deep green. It had to be the Histoire from his dimension. That had to be the reason why they'd won. He'd managed to infect her with a virus and corrupt her before she killed him, preventing her from aiding the others in defeating their opponents.

A chill suddenly ran down Histoire's spin when what the other Histoire was wearing finally sunk in. Her double was wearing the same outfit as she was right now.

No, he couldn't possibly be considering that.

"Neptune is mine, Histoire, I love her, and I won't let you suppress her. Once I'm done with her, she'll no longer be a Blank Slate. I can see her hands, reaching out to others, and I will grab hold of them and never let go." He grabbed Histoire's body tightly as her doppelganger floated over to her. While the pages of Histoire's book were pure as fresh snow, those pages were as black as sin and crawled with ugly red lines.

"S-Stop! You can't!" Histoire cried out as the other Histoire stopped beside her. There was a wide grin on her face as she stared at Histoire.

"Oh, but I can," Code said, "you see, I can't kill you, because of how she feels about you. Neptune loves you, despite the fact that you only care about what she can _become_." A smile broke out across his lips. "But, I can replace you. Don't worry, I will return you to your book, eventually. But I intend to make sure that by then the Revival Protocol will be useless, and nothing you say will be able to sway her heart against me."

A long string of binary code leapt from his finger tips and wrapped around her body. The lines of binary shot out over to his Histoire and wrapped around her.

"I'm going to enjoy watching over such a pure, delightful Gamindustri," Code's Histoire said with a luxurious sigh. "I don't think you're going to enjoy our dimension as much."

"NO!" Histoire screamed helplessly as she was ripped from her book and forcefully transplanted into Code's while his Histoire replaced her on the other. Her book had been ripped from her, given to another.

This was a nightmare, her spot as Oracle of Planeptune had just been subverted.

And then the screaming started. Horror filled her. Sickness consumed her. Despair, Fear, Pain, Terror, countless emotions bubbled up from those black pages as the experiences and events of the dimension from which M. Code came from rushed into her mind. Words quickly ceased to be able to describe what happened there. It was impossible for positivity to exist in that viral world.

"This feels so wonderful," Code's Histoire said. Her snarled green hair shifted and changed, becoming pure and blond while her eyes shifted and flickered, returning to their natural blue color. "It feels so… so amazing, so addicting. There's no screams, there's no pain, no fear. Oh Code, this is… this is beyond wonderful." Code's Histoire quivered as pleasure wracked her body. "Can I keep this? I don't want to go back to my old book."

"Depends on how this Histoire behaves," Code said as he patted Neptune's Histoire. "I'm still learning more, perhaps someday I can disconnect you from our dimension, find a different dimension to hook you up to." Code turned his gaze upon her and she shrunk back. Despite everything bubbling up from the book, he still managed to appear more intimidating, more terrifying. "As for you, Histoire, you better get comfortable, because depending on how long it takes to pry you from Neptune's heart, you may be in there for a very, very long time."

"No! You can't leave me like this!" Histoire cried out pitifully. She could feel tears running down her cheeks. This was unbearable! "I'll stop the Revival Protocol! I won't use it! Please! Just give me back my book!"

M. Code stared down at her with cold, dead eyes. "I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think it was necessary." He slowly shook his head from side to side. "Unfortunately, Histoire, I can't trust you and you, of all people, should understand why." And with that said he closed the book, shutting her in absolute darkness filled with nothing but the agony and despair of a viral dimension.

**x~X~x**

"Now, what is the proper course of action in this situation?" Noire demanded, thumping her index finger on a report laid out before them on the desk.

"U-Umm," Uni squirmed in her seat as she struggled to come up with the right response. "You cut them off, you don't let the corporation talk you down. You get to the point and if—" Her eyes widened and understanding dawned across her face, "Oh! In this case, you have them arrested and all their assets confiscated."

Noire fought back the smile that tried to break out across her lips. She was the teacher here. She needed to be stern. But she was happy that Uni noticed that the corporation, while seeming legitimate on the outside, actually had secret dealings with hackers and pirates.

"Good, at least you saw that much," Noire said as she pulled the report off the table and handed it to a messenger. "See to it that Uni's recommendation is delivered to the Lastation Security Forces and followed through."

"Yes Lady Black Heart," the messenger said and quickly rushed off to deliver the message.

The two of them were alone in Noire's sanctuary, going over the last of the days reports. Ever since Uni was well enough to get up out of bed she had worked the girl as hard as she could. Morning consisted of grueling training sessions in the Phantasmal Staric simulator where Noire would force Uni to attack Noire with everything she had in order to push the young girl to new heights.

Noire never wanted a repeat situation where Uni was too weak to protect herself.

Afternoons were filled with administration training. Noire would bring out the days reports, documents, agreements, and whatever else happened to arrive, and let Uni deal with it. Noire would provide lessons and tips on how to administrate well and would provide background on what was brought before her, but ultimately leave it up to Uni to make the final decision.

And live with the consequences of said actions.

That was where they were now, going over the last few administrative tasks before the end of the day. Uni sat at her small desk which had been brought over from the far wall and placed beside Noire's own desk. Noire stood over her shoulder,

Afterwards they would finish the evening with a nice dinner and a long relaxing bath, where Noire would go over everything Uni had done wrong over the course of the day.

There was only one report left and Noire swallowed hard as it appeared. She wasn't too sure how this one would go over with Uni but what was done was done and she couldn't go back. "This is the last item of the day," Noire said as she placed a document on the wooden desktop before Uni. "It simply requires your signature at the bottom to come into effect, b-but make sure you read it over carefully. What is signed there can't be undone afterwards."

"Oh, ok," Uni said as she focused intently on the document before her. She was silent for a few as she read over it and a nervous sweat broke out on Noire's back. Uni jerked suddenly as her eyes reached the halfway point of the document. "..t-the signee of this document, whoever they may be, a-agrees to officially be adopted by Lady Black Heart, t-to be her l-little sister a-and…" Uni's shaky voice trailed off, unable to go on.

"W-Well, I have to admit you have been of great help to Lastation and, myself I guess," Noire admitted nervously. "You have no family, and since you seemed to have fit in well since moving in, it only seemed natural." That was much harder to say than she had thought it would be.

Uni looked up at her with wide expressive eyes, "You want me to be your little sister?" she asked in a small voice.

"Well, only if you want to be my little sister," Noire said, looking away in embarrassment. She coughed and cleared her throat roughly. "I'm not like Neptune, I don't believe in forcing—"

"YES!" Uni shouted happily and quickly turned back to the document. She didn't even read the rest of it and simply signed her name along the blank line at the bottom of the document.

"Ah!" Noire raised her hand. Uni hadn't read the rest of the document, she didn't know what being her little sister entailed and…

It was too late. The document slowly rose up from the table. Uni's signature glowed brightly on the paper, standing out amongst everything else. It started to rotate in spot before it suddenly shot up into the ceiling.

Outside loud speakers started to blare across Lastation. "Lastation has now entered a new, golden age." Noire's voice suddenly started up over the loud speakers, making more nervous sweat run down the back of the Goddess of Lastation. "While our technology and our software is the best in Gamindustri, it is prudent to take measures to ensure that we stay ahead of the other nations at all costs. As of this moment, I would like to proudly announce to everyone, Uni." An enormous image of Uni appeared above all the cities and zones across Lastation. It was an image of the little girl with one leg crossed behind the other as she leaned forward with her hands behind her back and a huge smile on her face. "Uni is now officially my little sister, and the CPU Candidate of Lastation. With her support we will ensure the dominance of Lastation for centuries to come!"

That speech sounded a lot better in Noire's head than it did when blared over loud speakers for all of Lastation to hear.

"Ah! W-What's this?!" Uni gasped out as she stared at her chest in surprise. It was glowing with a bright light.

"You should have finished reading the document!" Noire waggled a finger at her sternly. "Then you would have known what this was all about." Lecturing Uni made her feel better about the situation. She had no idea how her people would accept Uni before the announcement. It was obvious that some would, that random NPC that used to live next door to Uni obviously followed her, but it was worrisome.

That glow however, helped allay some of her fears. A quick glance at the computer on her own desk showed that the shares of Lastation had risen five percent with the sudden announcement of Uni. Nothing tremendous like Nepgear's arrival had been, but it was a good start, and proved that Uni's addition would greatly benefit Lastation.

Not that Noire would have gotten rid of her either way.

"What's going on? What's this strange energy?" Uni asked her nervously as she pressed her hands tightly against her chest.

Noire's expression softened for an instant before she quickly reinforced it with the stern teacher look. "Those are shares. That document linked you to Lastation's Share Crystal. Now the people's faith in you will flow into the Crystal which can then be used to empower you and I."

"B-But I can't transform," Uni protested.

"Transformation is something separate," Noire brushed aside her concern. "And if you need a transformation to gain people's prayers, you're no good."

"Am I…"

"Nonsense!" Noire cut her off before she could start mopping. She wouldn't let her little sister mope, the CPUs of Lastation had to be better than that. "Our shares rose five percent just now. Continue to work hard for Lastation and I'm sure you'll raise them even more."

The huge smile on Uni's face banished all doubts from Noire's mind about her actions. She cleared her throat which seemed rough and dry for some reason. "Now that all of today's reports are finished we can—"

"Lady Noire," Kei's voice suddenly spoke up with the arrival of the elevator with her on it.

"Kei, it is good to see you, what do you have for me?" Noire asked her Oracle as the white-haired woman stepped off the elevator.

"I have some mixed news," Kei said as she padded softly across the room to the two of them. "Which would you like first?"

"The bad news, like always of course," Noire said. It was better to get the bad news out of the way first and use the good news to dampen it and make it seem better than to have the bad news ruin any good mood the good news created. She threw a glance at Uni, "always pick the bad news first, Uni, it makes life easier."

"Yes, sis," Uni said happily.

Noire almost stumbled while standing still. Sis! That word sent a thrill racing through her body. Who knew being called that would feel so good? She would have to command Uni to always call her that later. But for now she had to keep her composure and focus on what Kei had to say.

"First is the news from Lowee," Kei said as she tilted her head and placed a finger against her temple. "There have been some terrible things happening over there, multiple kidnappings and other atrocities. Apparently from what my sources have said, even the Oracle, Mina, was kidnapped and tortured for weeks."

"Is she rescued now?" Noire asked. If she was still captured Noire might head over there with Uni and see about lending a hand. It would do much for relations and she could potentially use it to sway some of Blanc's followers over to the dark side, or her side rather.

Kei nodded her head, dispelling that hope, "she is. Although the details surrounding it are all hush-hush, Blanc found and rescued her and sent those responsible packing, one of the villains, the mid-boss Linda, is dead."

"Typical Blanc, always acting violently," Noire said. She had expected at least that much. Blanc cared much for her people, her Oracle especially. Linda had probably suffered greatly before Blanc ended that petty villain.

"Yes, there are two other pieces of news on that front," Kei said, "it is good that you have brought Uni under your wing, as Blanc has found her little sisters."

"Sisters?" That was plural.

"Yes, twins from the sounds of it, and they're a huge hit with the people. One's a shy, quiet girl and the other is loud and abrasive. The combination is making the people of Lowee go over the moon for them."

That was troublesome, but hardly unexpected. Nepgear's appearance had really shaken up Gamindustri. They were entering a new era for sure. "What else from Lowee, you said there were two things." Noire pushed her Oracle to say more.

"Yes, Blanc is trying to keep this quiet but I managed to get it from my contact at an exorbitant cost." Kei took a deep, shuddering breath. Noire wondered if that cost was why Lastation's treasury had dropped ten million credits. It barely dented it, but it was still a strange purchase. "Blanc already had the Sharicite crystal for the twins, but someone by the name of CFW Magic stole it and ran from Lowee. Blanc has people chasing her but the chances of a random NPC finding a super unique Mega Class villain is slim."

That was worrisome. The children of Lowee and the Oracle all being attacked sounded very similar to what happened to Uni here in Lastation. All the big name villains in Gamindustri were working together to target the CPU Candidates of Gamindustri. Going after both the person and the crystal itself. Noire did not doubt that they were searching intently even now for Lastation's own Sharicite Crystal for Uni.

"And what's the good news?"

"There's still more bad news, I'm afraid," Kei sounded apologetic.

That wasn't good.

"Vert has been found," Kei went on, "she and her chosen little sister, a super unique character by the name of Xone, went looking for their Sharicite Crystal." Kei crossed her arms across her chest and shook her head sadly. "That explosion from awhile back was them. Their crystal was stolen from them just like Lowee's, as for the two of them…"

"What happened to Vert?" Noire demanded. She couldn't say she was on particularly good terms with that large breasted woman, but she certainly didn't wish her any harm, at least not recently.

"They both survived. Vert is up and about now, furiously looking for whoever stole her Sharicite Crystal." Kei's expression became somber. "Xone is not, she's in a coma and… in very rough shape. I fear it is questionable whether or not Xone will make it. Vert has reached out to Planeptune for medical assistance."

"What is Histoire doing about it?" Noire asked. Histoire was the real power in Planeptune. As much as Noire preferred Neptune to Histoire, she had to admit that much. Even if Neptune wanted to do something, if Histoire was totally against it, it wouldn't happen. Whether Histoire would help Vert was hard to say. She cared about Planeptune and Neptune, not necessarily the rest of them, although she did lend support if she felt it would benefit Neptune.

Kei frowned, "actually, it was Neptune that replied. She's sending all the support she can. Apparently she and Xone became close friends during Neptune's last trip to Leanbox."

"Neptune is taking her job seriously?!" Noire gaped in surprise. That went against everything Noire knew about her frien… rival.

"Yes, and she's older now, too," Kei said. Noire's Oracle held her hand out before her, on it was a small device. She flicked a little button on the side and a holographic image of Neptune appeared floating above it. An image of Neptune that was definitely much older and more mature than Noire remembered. "The official report states that Planeptune developed a new device that allowed Neptune to age a little. However my agents in Leanbox, which received their information from one of Neptune's friends, actually mentioned that it was caused by a malfunction in her HDD transformation, which has since been fixed."

"Ugh! Neptune!" Noire grumbled and raked both her hands through her hair, "why must she always cause so much trouble. Poor Histoire is probably going nuts over there."

At least Noire was still curvier than this new Neptune. She could let the changes slide for that reason alone.

Kei nodded, "she did indeed. Apparently she overheated in a very bad way. She's a bit different than she was before. Still strict and stern with Neptune at times, but she also seems to have inherited a bit of Neptune's mischief side."

"Well it was bound to happen eventually," Noire said with a helpless shake of her head. After everything Neptune had done to poor Histoire over the centuries, it really was only a matter of time before the poor Oracle had a total circuit overload that damaged the hardware inside her.

"Yes, I agree, I shall send Lastation's official condolences to Histoire as soon as I can." Kei tapped her temple a couple times as she went over the list of things she needed to speak of. "The only other thing is that for some reason, after Neptune returned from an island on the west coast of Planeptune, Neptune turned the Nep Satellite on the island. Most of it is beneath the waves now.

"That's very excessive, but again, typical of Neptune," Noire said, not thinking much about that. "That girl doesn't know what gentle means."

"Umm… sis?" a tingle ran up Noire's spine.

"Yes, Uni?" Noire asked as she turned to regard her little sister. There was a worried look on Uni's face that Noire did not like seeing there.

"Why are the CPU Candidates being attacked?"

"What do you mean?" Noire asked, so wrapped up on the changes in Neptune that she hadn't really put much time into finding a pattern.

"W-Well…" she looked at her and Kei nervously. "Blanc's little sisters were targeted and their Sharicite Crystal stolen. The same happened in Leanbox with umm… Xone and their crystal. And a few months ago Planeptune had their crystal stolen." She trailed off and stared down at her lap. "And I was..."

Understanding slapped Noire in the face. Gamindustri was under attack. The villainous forces were all working together to try and ruin it. It was true that with just the four CPUs, things had gotten pretty stagnant, and stagnation bred complacency and piracy, which had been on the rise recently. The CPU Candidates would serve to shake things up and really get things moving again.

But there was a force out there that didn't want that to happen, a force that wanted to undermine the stability of Gamindustri.

"Kei! We need to…" Noire trailed off as she saw the smile on Kei's face.

"That's the good news, Noire, we have found Uni's Sharicite Crystal. It's deep in a dungeon zone. I have already sent a large force of our military there to secure the area around it."

"Good!" That was great news. That made everything else seem light by comparison. "We're going, now. I'm not going to give the villains any time to take from Lastation what rightfully belongs to us."

"Umm…" Uni started hesitantly. From the look on her face she obviously wanted to go.

Well Noire certainly wasn't going to leave her behind. The whole point of this expedition was to get Uni the Sharicite Crystal. It would be rather pointless to go without Uni there. And Noire wanted the company, but she would never say that.

Noire grabbed Uni's hand and pulled her up out of her chair, "and that means you as well. You got kidnapped the last time I left you alone, so I obviously can't leave you alone." Noire said, causing her little sister to wilt. "S-So I'll just have to keep you at my side until you're strong enough not to be kidnapped. Now let's go," Noire said

She started for the elevator with Uni's small hand clenched tightly in her own. Her little sister stumbled those first few steps but quickly found her balance and fell into step beside her. Noire didn't notice the light blush or the happy smile on her face as she entered the elevator with Uni and Kei.

The trip to the zone didn't take long. The three of them took the express train from Lastation north, past the Kuzarat Facility 1 to the border town of Borderlund, a small town that was nestled up against the mountains bordering Lowee that seemed to have an unhealthy number of different guns. Although it was classified as town officially, it was more like a defensible outpost than a rural community. It was one of several outposts created during the height of the Console War to defend against an invasion from Lowee.

From there they trekked eastwards, travelling past the Wanderer's Cave and Rud Arms Sewer. Their destination was a small, obscure zone that few went to due to the odd fact that the monsters in the surrounding zone were several times more powerful, and more lucrative, than anything found in that zone.

They were nearly through the surrounding zone, a forest like dungeon area called Ico's Fall, when the sounds of battle started to reach their ears. It was faint at first, an intermittent rumble of thunder here, rapid fire guns shots there. But as they neared the edge of the zone it came more frequently and with more force; the ground shook with the rumble of exploding artillery, the rapid fire shooting of automatic weapons became a constant backdrop. Screams and shouts began to reach their ears as well, punctuated by the acrid smell of burning flesh and scorched earth.

"Looks like you made the right call," Noire said to Kei as they picked up the pace, turning their fast walk into a quick jog. "It seems like whoever stole Leanbox's and Lowee's Sharicite Crystal has come for ours now."

"I simply did what was prudent and what I'm sure you yourself would have done, Lady Noire," Kei said, keeping her gaze focused straight ahead.

The light grew stronger as they neared the end of the forest and almost without warning the treeline disappeared, as if halted by some invisible barrier. Spread out before them was a grassy plain that stretched out towards a peninsula dominated by a small crumbling ruin.

A large contingent of Lastation's troops were stationed on that grassy plain before the crumbling ruins. Half a dozen artillery emplacements and twice that in anti-air towers had been hastily constructed. Around which was fielded an army of ten thousand troops, an assortment of soldiers both mystical and scientific. They were all staring up into the sky, shooting at a gundam looking robot.

A pillar of light engulfed Noire as she activated her HDD and transformed into Black Heart. "CFW Brave," Noire spat out through clenched teeth. The super villain was firing back at her troops, dropping plasma bombs and shooting energy beams at her men before diving down to cleave one of her military emplacements with a huge sword. "He owes Lastation a debt and I intend to collect." She summoned her futuristic beam sword to her hands from her inventory and pointed it at the super villain. "I'll see him pay for what he did to Uni!"

"Lady Noire, what would you have of me?" Kei asked quickly.

Right, she needed to handle Uni and Kei first. "Kei, go take over from the commander here. As a random NPC he's prone to getting killed off too easily and he's designed to be below you in every regard."

"Right," Kei said and quickly started across the open grasslands to a group of tents where the command center was set up.

"I'll help you, sis!" Uni said as she pulled out a large assault rifle. Noire could see from the fire in her eyes that she wanted to dish out some payback. "I want to make that creep pay."

It was good that she had backbone in this regard, but there was something more important that she needed to do. When facing a super villain like this, her people would do little more than distract him, slow him down. Only she could stop him. In the event that there was another that was using CFW Brave as a means to slip un-detected past her army to the Crystal, she needed Uni to get there first.

"No, Uni, he's here for the Sharicite Crystal. That's your crystal." Noire pulled out a Sharicite Detection Unit, or SDU, and handed it to Uni. "Use that and go to the ruins, your job is to become a CPU Candidate in form as well as in name."

"Ugh, fine," Uni said, sounding rather disappointed by being pushed off to a different duty.

Noire cracked her a lopsided half grin, "as my little sister I will expect that you complete your transformation and meet me in the sky before I'm done. Then I'll continue you education on how to be a proper CPU of Lastation."

"Yes! I will!" Uni vowed and rushed off towards the ruins.

Now, all that was left was to deal with CFW Brave.

She turned her sights on the fast flying super villain. Her eyes tracked his movements for a few moments, calculating the velocity and direction. She had his flight pattern and habits recorded in moments. A boom resounded as she launched herself from the ground, shattering the sound barrier as she blasted through the air, cutting through it like an arrow.

"Lace Ribbons!" Noire shouted as she got close to CFW Brave. Her body flowed through the familiar patterns, dancing around CFW Brave as she cut through his armored form with five, beautiful, elegant strikes.

That got his attention.

He transformed from an fighter jet into a bipedal gundam like machine. "I see the CPU of Lastation has arrived. I, CFW Brave, shall fight you for the honor of claiming the Sharicite Crystal!"

Noire scowled at him and pointed her blade at the super villain, "I will defeat you, no matter the competition, but that is not why I am here. You hurt someone who is precious to me, and to Lastation. That cannot go unpunished."

"Ah, you must mean little Uni," CFW Brave said, "I did not mean to harm her as badly as I did, but she has a strong fighting spirit. She would not give up until she was in that condition. Admirable, to fight until one's dying breath. My condolences for her condition and respect for the drive for victory that she has."

"Don't think your words will sway me!" Noire snapped as she settled into a fighting stance, ready to unleash a string of combos against the super villain. "I am the CPU of Lastation, and you have committed grievous crimes. I hope you are prepared to die."

CFW Brave chuckled and held his enormous sword at the ready. "I wouldn't have it any other way. This is how this situation should end! With an epic battle between two opposing sides. May the better of us win!"

"I will win," Noire shouted as she kicked off the air behind her and launched herself at the enormous bipedal villain.

Every single injury Uni had suffered. They were burned in her mind. She would carve each and every one of them into this villains hide!

**~o~**

"What's the situation here?" Kei demanded as she burst into the command center to find a bunch of random NPC's clustered around a table in the center of the room.

"Lady Kei!" the first NPC said, a shadowy outline of a general. "No sooner did we secure the surroundings did the gundam monster we were ordered to hunt start to hunt us. We've done our best to fight him off."

"I know, you've done an adequate job for someone who is of little importance," Kei said as she strode to the table.

"Thank you for your kind words."

Kei quickly looked over the plans on the table. The plans were good, really good, considering who was gathered around the table here. Almost too good to have been come up with by the men here. She could see that the plans immediately took into account that the army, no matter how much it might try, would be able to deal with a super unique character. So instead of trying to deal with it, it simply manipulated Gamindustri's rules against it, focusing more on delaying it until other super unique characters, such as Noire and herself, arrived to deal with the menace once and for all.

It was a very good plan, and one impossible for those here to come up with.

"Who came up with this idea?"

"It was some random NPC, number 60173 I believe," one of the generals said. "He's…" the shadowy outline seemed taken aback. "He was just here until a moment ago."

"And you took orders from some random NPC?" While they, too, were random NPCs like the rest of Gamindustri, they had their rankings. These men were almost important enough to have a basic description, no bottom feeding random NPC would be able to have any sway or pull over them.

"Yes?"

That wasn't a reassuring response. She would deal with it after CFW Brave was dealt with. "Continue with these plans. Lady Noire is here to finish CFW Brave. You're to give her support. Don't try hitting CFW Brave, you'll only miss. Instead, concentrate on distracting him and driving him into Lady Noire's strike zones. She'll deal with him personally.

"Yes Lady Kei!" The men in the room saluted her as one.

"Have there been any other strange movements in the area?" She asked on the off chance that there was more to this situation.

"Yes," one of the generals said. Kei shot him a quick look and gestured for him to continue, "Planeptune's CPU Candidate, Nepgear, made her way into the ruins an hour ago. Just before CFW Brave arrived."

Damn, what was Planeptune doing here? How did they even know where the crystal was? Kei herself only found it three days ago, and it took longer than that to get here from Planeptune. There was something very strange going on. She wanted to investigate personally but she needed to be here to ensure things out here continued without a hitch. As important as Uni was, Noire was more so, at least for now. If the villains stole the Sharicite Crystal, it could be taken back. If Lastation lost Noire because Kei abandoned her duties and chased after Nepgear, they would never recover. Uni wasn't strong enough yet to take over for Noire.

"Well focus on backing Noire up, once CFW Brave has been taken care of I want those ruins locked down."

"Yes, Lady Kei!"

These men would be useless against Nepgear, but if the reports Kei had on the CPU Candidate of Planeptune were correct, the presence of the army would at least make it more difficult for Nepgear to make any sort of escape.

**~o~**

Uni hurried through the underground tunnels beneath the ruins. The poor lightning, cold stone walls, moist air, and musty smell combined to create that perfect dungeon like atmosphere. The place was in bad disrepair but Uni pain the crumbling stone walls and pock marked ceiling no heed as she hurtled down the tunnels and around corners as quickly as she could

She stopped only to take out any monsters that crossed her paths. The monsters here were significantly stronger than the ones above, but nothing she couldn't handle so long as they were taken out before they got close. Thankfully her assault rifle and long range skills allowed her to take them out before they reached her, and the tunnels didn't let them come at her more than one at a time.

The device in her hand pulsated in time with the energy of the Sharicite Crystal she was looking for. With each step the pulse grew stronger, driving her onward, forward towards her goal.

Shooting yet another door off its hinges Uni quickly rushed into another chamber in the underground ruins and stopped. There were three entrances into this place, including the one she had just come through. The other two were across the way, with one being a staircase leading upwards towards the surface. There were no monsters in the room, and it was devoid of anything remotely interesting.

Aside from the pedestal in the very center of the room with a black Sharicite Crystal slowly rotating a few centimeters above it. Periodically white streaks of energy coursed across its surface.

Uni didn't need the device to know this was what she was here for. Her Sharicite Crystal, she had made it before anyone else. Noire would be so proud of her.

A wide, excited smile broke out across Uni's face as she rushed across the room to the Sharicite Crystal. She needed to transform as soon as possible so she could help Noire and get some payback for what CFW Brave did to her. Her hand reached out for the crystal, the crystal itself seemed to recognize her as its rightful owner and began to pulsate in rhythm with her own heartbeat.

A large powerful hand clamped around her wrist, stopping her within mere inches of touching the crystal. Before she could cry out a smaller hand covered her mouth and an arm wrapped around her chest. She cried out and twisted and turned as she tried to break free from her captors. They dragged her away, across the room, towards a different exit, away from the crystal that would make her a CPU Candidate in truth.

Tears threatened to break out and panic welled up in her chest. Fear coursed through her veins as images of CFW Brave looming large above her flashed across her mind. She was being kidnapped again, she was failing Noire. She couldn't be kidnapped again. Twisting and turning against her captors grips she fought as hard as she could.

But it was to no avail. Her rifle was trapped in her inventory, she couldn't bring it out, and she was far weaker than the two that had her.

As she was dragged through one of the exits into a side room she lost hope. She would be beaten and crushed, raped and then murdered, her body put on display for Noire and all of Lastation. Uni would become the laughing stock of Gamindustri. Noire's reputation would suffer. Uni, CPU Candidate for a single day before being kidnapped and killed.

A single tear made its way down her eyes, followed by a second.

"Oh Uni, please don't cry," an unfamiliar voice said to her. It was a kindly voice, filled with caring and comfort.

"I'm not crying!" Uni snapped back, refusing to admit she was crying even in her defeat. She hated how she couldn't even wipe that annoying moisture from her cheeks. Realization suddenly dawned on her, she could speak now! In fact she was no longer bound at all.

She whirled around on her captors and came face to face with someone she recognized immediately, Nepgear, the CPU Candidate of Planeptune. She floated a foot off the ground in her HDD state. It was beautiful, but Uni had no doubt hers would be better. And beside her was a super unique male character dressed all in black with a large double-bladed spear slung across his back. Amusement danced in his blue eyes as he stared at her, one hand rested easily at his side while the other scratched the back of his head.

Uni scowled at Nepgear, dismissing the man since she had no idea who he was. "What do you think you're doing?! Are you trying to stop Lastation? Is that why you're here? I'll have you know I'm a CPU Candidate as well, I won't let you stop me from—" The man's light laughter interrupted her. "What is it?"

"I know Uni," Nepgear said. There was a brilliant smile on her face now. And those eyes caused her to take a step back in trepidation. There was so much emotion in them, joy and relief, and pure raw happiness. It was as if she was seeing a dear friend, one thought lost forever. It was hard to take it all in from someone you'd just met for the first time. "But Code and I aren't here to stop you, but to help you, and Rom and Ram and Xone."

"How is stopping me from being better than you helping me?" Uni snapped angrily at the purple haired CPU of Planeptune.

"Lowee and Leanbox had their crystals stolen," the super unique male by the name of Code replied. His voice sent a shiver up her spine for some reason. "Someone will come for this Sharicite Crystal."

"We intend to capture them and question them," Nepgear said. The CPU Candidate of Planeptune floated over to her and smiled at her. "Once they appear we'll capture them and question them to find out where the others were taken. And then you can have your crystal."

Uni grumbled beneath her breath. She had to admit it was a good plan, but she wasn't going to say that aloud. It would be like admitting she lost or something, and it would completely invalidate those tears from earlier. Not acceptable.

"What if they don't come?" Uni snapped at them, "how long will you hold me hostage here?"

"They'll come," Code assured her as he kept an eye on the door they'd dragged her through. His position allowed him to see into the other room. "And if for some reason they don't, then when Noire arrives we'll simply take the crystal back with us to Lastation and they'll follow. They will make the attempt. It's not a matter of if, just a matter of when, and where."

Humph, easy for him to say. This was her Sharicite Crystal they were talking about.

Nepgear clasped her hands before. "You're not a hostage, Uni." And then the CPU Candidate pulled out a pair of small hand-held console system from her inventory. "Want to play some games while we wait?"

Uni glared up at Nepgear for a few moments before taking one of the console systems from the girl. "Fine." If this was a hostage situation, it was the weirdest one she had ever been in. Even if the Code guy did seem like a villain, at least Nepgear seemed cheerful enough. "But I will beat you, Nepgear, Lastation always wins." Playing video games was her second favorite hobby behind gun collecting, she had a lot of hours racked up on her own console systems at home.

And for the next thirty minutes the two of them battle back and forth across the LAN. The fighting game allowed for a shockingly large amount of customization, something Uni planned to master at a later time. But for now she was having fun with all the stock classes, and Nepgear seemed to limit herself to the same.

Although she would never admit it, Uni was having fun, a lot of it. This was the first time she had ever played with someone her own age. Noire was the CPU of Lastation, she had too much to do to bother spending time playing with Uni. Not that Uni had any problems with that. She understood how busy and important her older sister was.

But it was nice, to just have someone to play with. Nepgear wasn't a friend, of course, she wouldn't let someone that kidnapped her and stopped her from achieving her HDD a friend, but… maybe afterwards, once she showed Nepgear how much better her HDD form was, they could be friends.

After those thirty minutes the two of them were almost neck and neck. Nepgear had seven wins and she had six. She was holding her own but Nepgear's transformation was irritating her and causing her to make mistakes. "Do you have to flaunt your HDD in front of me?" Uni snapped irritably at Nepgear as the CPU Candidate of Planeptune beat her again.

Nepgear flinched and pain flashed across those eyes before it was quickly hidden behind a happy smile. "Sorry, Uni, I'm on an important mission. I'll drop out the moment we finish!"

"It takes time to undergo an HDD transformation," Code added softly, his gaze had never once left the other room. "Precious time, time that could… cost lives, many lives."

"Humph, fine then, I'll just beat you while you're in your HDD and prove that Lastation is better!" Uni crowed and went back to game fifteen. She was going to get her seventh win here, she could feel it! She smiled wide as her character smacked Nepgear's stationary one.

"Hey! I wasn't ready yet!" Nepgear complained and quickly got into the fight.

"Should have been paying attention!" Uni bit out and proceeded to beat Nepgear.

Their fun was brought to a halt on the twenty-first battle, the tie breaker between them. Both had ten wins at that point.

"They're here," Code said quietly, almost too quietly for Uni to hear.

But Nepgear reacted instantly. Her hand-held console system was off and tucked away inside her inventory in an instant and a moment later she was sidled up next to the door, peering around the edge cautiously into the room beyond.

Uni swallowed hard and gave the console system in her hand one last look. The game said connection lost. With a sigh she tucked it away inside her own inventory. She'd give it back to Nepgear afterwards. It wouldn't be right for Lastation to have a piece of Planeptune's hardware, although having it did give Uni some ideas for her own handheld system.

Uni rose to her feet and dusted her dress off. She hadn't noticed when she had sat down to play with Nepgear. She pulled her rifle out of her inventory and held it at the ready. Nepgear had her own sword out in her right hand.

"We finally found it, chuu," a squeaky voice floated into the room.

"That pathetic CFW Brave was good for something at least," the voice of a pasty-faced hag followed the first.

"Remember our other reason for being here, chuu," the first voice spoke up again.

There was an annoyed grumble. "I know. The CPU of Lastation will probably finish him off. And if not, he won't be in any condition to fight back." There was silence for a couple moments. "CFW Brave should have known better than to betray our _master_." That word was spat out in disgust, "he was ordered to kill Uni, not take her captive."

Uni started at that revelation. She hadn't known that, although he had come close to killing her, he had still stopped short. This was different than what she had thought. Not that it would stop her from wanting some payback though.

Nepgear held her empty hand up to Code with four fingers stretched out. Each second she curled one down. A countdown, Uni recognized that. She tensed when there was a single finger left. The moment the last finger curled down forming a fist, they sprang into action. Nepgear and Code shot into the room beyond almost too fast for Uni to follow.

"Who the hell-GURK!"

"NO CHUU!"

Twin shouts of surprise and pain bounced into the room. Uni raced to the door and stopped, staring in surprise beyond. Code had a grey and black mouse like thing pinned against the far wall, his powerful grip clamped around his fury neck tight enough to cause his face to start going red. His tail was wrapped around Code's wrist as if trying to break the hold.

Nepgear surprised Uni the most however. Uni had taken her for a cheerful girl, someone like her, new to the whole CPU Candidate deal. But Nepgear was different here. Her large beam sword was buried up to its hilt in the chest of some pasty faced hag. The smell of burning flesh hit Uni like a slap in the face as the plasma infused edge of Nepgear's sword burned the pasty-face woman's innards. Uni had trouble processing the look on Nepgear's face. Those were the eyes of someone that no longer knew how to show mercy to her enemies, the face of someone willing to cross any line for the sake of those that were precious to her.

The pasty faced woman grasped Nepgear's arm and tried to push her away but she was weak. Even Uni could tell she wouldn't last long, her strength was rapidly fading. "Who are—" the villain gasped out.

"Arfoire, for the sake of my sister, Planeptune, and all of Gamindustri," Nepgear said in a hard voice that held none of the warmth it had just a few minutes earlier, "I need you to die here."

Nepgear ripped her large beam sword form Arfoire's gut. Before the super villain could regain her strength and retaliate, Nepgear struck. "Critical Wave!" Nepgear shouted out in a clear voice.

And then Nepgear seemed to multiply, moving so quickly that she left afterimages behind. Six waves of pure raw energy raced across the ground towards Arfoire, launched at the same time by a Nepgear moving too fast for Uni to follow properly. Then she was above the pasty-faced villain, her feet planted firmly on the ceiling above them. Like a comet she streaked down towards Arfoire and slammed into her the moment the six waves of energy converged on her.

There was a massive explosion of power and energy. Arfoire didn't even have time to scream before it was all over. Liquid splashed across the room, covering the walls and floor as Arfoire's body literally exploded from the pressure exerted upon her. Uni let her rifle drop in shock. She idly wiped a bit of the blood from her face.

"That may have been a tad excessive," Code commented idly from across the room.

Nepgear shook her head as she stood up, heedless to the copious amounts of Arfoire's blood that stained her white and purple bodysuit. "Arfoire is too dangerous. If I had waited she may have transformed and that could have buried us all alive."

"True," Code said as he grabbed pulled the grey mouse away from the wall. "Come, Pirachu, I have some questions for you."

"I-I won't say anything, chuu!"

"Oh, I think you will," Code said in a devilish voice. "I know you're working for Spybore, but what I don't know, is where that hard ass is hiding."

"He'll kill me if I tell you anything, chuu!" Pirachu protested weakly.

"And I'll do far worse if you don't," Code said as he started for Uni. He looked past the rat and smiled at her. "The Sharicite Crystal is there, Uni, you and Nepgear should handle that while I have a chat with our little friend here."

"Come on Uni!" Nepgear said to her, her sword was tucked away again and she was all smile. It was a little jarring to Uni considering she was waving her over while covered in blood. "It's your crystal, Code can handle with Pirachu."

A little blush stained her cheeks and she quickly stuffed her rifle back in her inventory. "Ah, right," she said feeling a little nervous as the strange man walked past her into the room beyond, holding a squirming Pirachu in his grasp. Uni pushed him from her mind and focused on Nepgear. "Nepgear, you're…" Uni gestured at her body.

Nepgear glanced down at herself and reared back in surprise. "Oh my goodness! I'm such a mess, I'm sorry Uni." Nepgear bowed low. Her body glowed briefly and when the light died down she was clean again, the bloodstained bodysuit was tucked away in her inventory.

"Its fine," Uni was quick to reassure her. For some reason it felt really strange to see Nepgear covered in blood, it just didn't seem right.

Pushing that thought aside as well she made her way over to the Sharicite Crystal. It had taken a little longer than hoped and had taken a strange turn, but she was finally here. Now she would be able to finally live up to Noire's expectations.

Except she didn't know what to do next. Noire hadn't explained how she was supposed to—

"Just hold it to your chest, Uni," Nepgear said quietly. "Embrace it like you would a baby, and it will take hold. If you're the one it is meant for, it will do the rest."

"What do you mean by that last bit?" Uni said suspiciously.

Nepgear gave her an encouraging smile and gestured her to pick up the crystal. "I just mean that it will work for you and not anyone else. You are the proper CPU Candidate for Lastation."

"Of course I am!" Uni retorted and grabbed the crystal. It felt warm to the touch, and pulsated like it had a heartbeat of its own. She brought it to her chest because she had no other idea of what to do, not because Nepgear suggested it. Nestling it between the small mounds of her breasts she embraced it as tightly as she could. The crystal started to glow brighter and brighter, with each pulse of energy releasing in beat with her heart.

Suddenly a pillar of white and black light engulfed her. It lifted her up off the ground and held her gently in mid-air. Slowly she rotated in place as she the energy of the Sharicite Crystal infuse her body, seep into her very pores and become one with her. It gently kneaded her body, moulding it, transforming it. Her hair changed colors, going from black to white and changing into a pair of curly pigtails. Her dress faded away, replaced by a black body suit that was more like a skimpy two-piece swim suit with long, thigh high boots. A slight flicker of annoyance zipped across her mind as she felt her breasts decrease in size, but it quickly disappeared, consumed by the rest of the changes. Power surged through her veins, instinctual knowledge of more advanced versions of her skills and abilities came unbidden to her mind.

Uni let a victorious smile come to her lips. So this was what it was like to become a CPU Candidate. Now she and Nepgear would be on equal terms in all regards. She wouldn't let Lastation fall behind the other nations.

"No, we won't," she heard herself say.

Uni's eye flashed open. There was something else in there with her. _She_ was in here with her. Floating before her was herself. The white hair, the curls, the two-piece black bathing latex bathing suit, the thigh high boots, everything. It was an exact replica of herself. Or very close at least, there were some differences between them, subtle ones. This one held herself with an air of confidence that Uni did not have and her face was marred with faint lines of anxiety and stress.

The eyes were the biggest changes. Experience shown through those vibrant green eyes with an iris shaped like a power button symbol. This wasn't just her, Uni knew that right away. This was a her that had experienced the best and worst life had to offer. The pain, the joy, the happiness, the sadness, it was all there.

"You are me?" Uni asked the stupid question she already knew the answer to.

The other Uni reached out and touched her face. "Things don't really go well for me, for us," she said in a voice thick with pain and grief. "I couldn't save my sister, our sister. I couldn't save Lastation. I let our people down because I was not strong enough. I let our people die. Nepgear too," Uni's voice seemed to break a little, "I couldn't stop sis from killing her, from killing our first friend."

Nepgear was her friend? Well, she had to admit Nepgear wasn't that bad of a person, perhaps she could see herself befriending her in the future, but it was weird hearing all of this before it had happened.

But what worried Uni the most was what she said to herself earlier. She couldn't save her sister; she couldn't save Lastation.

"I don't want to lose sis," Uni said fiercely. She was just starting to get accepted by the one person that mattered most in her life. Losing her wasn't an option.

"Neither do I," her future self said. There was a fierce determination in the depths of those orbs that made the fire in her seem like a candle against a raging bonfire. The future Uni gave her a fierce, grim smile. "Together we can do it."

There was no mistaking the intent in those words.

"I won't… lose myself, will I?" Uni asked a bit hesitantly. She had seen a few movies about this sort of situation.

"You are I, and I am you," the future Uni said with a light shake of her head. "Everything you've experienced up until now, I experienced too. Being left behind as sis goes to Planeptune, the near death experience with CFW Brave, Noire's acceptance of us, that introduction speech that will cause us plenty of embarrassment in the future, and the fight above these ruins. All of it, I remember as clear as day." The future Uni placed her hands on her hips and her smile turned competitive. "Of course, as I have a few more years of experience than you, I am obviously better."

"No you aren't! I am!" Uni retorted, adopting the same stance and expression as herself.

There was a pause and the two started to laugh.

When the laughter died down the future Uni smiled at her. "So will you accept me? Accept what you will become, what we will go through," the future Uni asked as she held her hand out for Uni to take.

"Of course not," Uni said as she laid her hand on top of her future self's, "because I intend to change it all. I won't lose like you, I'll save sis and Lastation and… well maybe Nepgear too, i-if I feel like it."

The future Uni smiled, a real smile. "Good answer," she said and gripped her hand tightly.

There was a second surge of power as her future self was pulled into her body. The two of them merged into one. Her level surged and new skills, new techniques appeared in her mind. Powerful abilities that could match anything anyone else could bring to bear. A second layer of memories overlaid on top of her own. As the future Uni had said, up until now their lives had been nearly identical. But it was from this point forward that things would be different.

The Viral War, the destruction of Planeptune, Ram's final sacrifice to save them all, her despair as she watched her sister spiral into viral infection, the death of her sister, of Nepgear and the others. The fall of Lastation, the burning city and the screaming voices. All of it, she would change all of it.

Emotions flowed into her heart: The love of her sister, the love of her people and her friendship with Nepgear, Rom and Ram. The joy and happiness they shared as they played on each other's handheld systems while their older sisters bickered over the main console system.

An incredibly odd sensation filled Uni, like she wasn't in control of her own body, and yet was. She could feel everything, and whenever she commanded her body to move, it moved. And yet, it didn't feel like it was her, not entirely. And the memories. Her memories were all there, and yet memories of events she was both familiar with, and was not, dominated her mind. The emotions associated with them felt real as well as anything that happened in the past.

It was a very odd experience, but the experience itself wasn't particularly unpleasant. She didn't feel not herself, she just felt more of herself. Like she was more Uni than before.

But regardless of all that, a fierce determination to succeed this time superseded any discomfort or alarm.

"We won't lose, we will win," Uni said fiercely, two voices overlapping. "And I'll start with CFW Brave." The voices were now one.

The pillar of light disappeared, returning Uni to the room she was in. She hovered a foot above the stone floor, several meters across from Nepgear. Her best friend had a worried expression on her face.

Uni gave her best friend a warm smile. It had felt like so long since she had last seen her. "Nepgear."

Nepgear seemed to recognize the change in her. Her hands rose to her mouth and unshed tears began to shine in her eyes. "I-Is that you, Uni? Code said that… but I didn't think…"

"We can catch up later, Nepgear," Uni said to her friend. She held her hand out to her side and an enormous beam cannon coalesced around her hand. "I believe our score was 10-10?"

"Yes!" Nepgear had a huge smile on her face.

"And I still owe you for going ahead and dying on me. I'll make sure you pay for each and every one of those tears!" Uni vowed.

"Whatever you say Uni," Nepgear said happily. "Hey wait! You still owe me for buying all those treats for you!"

Uni smirked, "maybe I'll pay you back, if you can beat me now. I'm not weak like I was anymore."

"I won't be beaten either!" Nepgear said fiercely, "I've been training too!"

"I wouldn't have it any other way, a weak rival is useless," Uni said. She glanced up at the ceiling and pointed her enormous beam gun at it. "EX Multi Blaster!"

The weapon in her hands hummed with power, energy arced between the two long arms of the cannon. The vibrant blue energy became blinding as the energy building up within reached a crescendo. With a powerful sound it unleashed its attack, punching its way through the ceiling of the room and burrowing upwards through thousands of tons of dirt and rock.

Out above the ruins all battle stopped as an enormous beam of energy blasted out from the ruins and shot up into the sky. It pierced the heavens and scattered the clouds around it. The silence that followed it was almost deafening.

Back below in the ruins Uni stared up through the hole in the ceiling she'd just made. Sunlight shone down, making the room seem brighter. Tilting her head to the side she gave Nepgear a smile. "You can just sit down here and rest, Nepgear, I'll handle things from here."

She was more than strong enough now to deal with someone like CFW Brave.

Nepgear clenched her hands into fists and stared at her fiercely. "I'm coming too, Uni!"

"Fine, I guess I'll let you watch my brilliance, but don't get in my way! CFW Brave is mine," Uni returned and shot up out through the hole she made in the ceiling.

"Right!" Nepgear cried out and quickly followed her.

Uni noted with some annoyance that Nepgear was still just a bit faster than her as she managed to catch up despite her speed.

Back down in the hole Code walked out of the other room holding the rat Pirachu in one hand. "I found where Spybore is hiding," Code said as he glanced around the room. There was a broad smile on his, a smile which slowly slid off when he noticed that there wasn't anyone there anymore. "Really? Was I like, completely forgotten or something?" he asked nobody, letting Pirachu slide from his grasp and bounce off the floor.

"Pira-Piarchu… chuu..." the purple mouse at his side said robotically. His red eyes glowed dimly in the newly brightened room.

Code sighed and rubbed his eyes, "oh well, wouldn't be the first, or the tenth time it's happened." He glanced down at the purple rodent at his side and picked him up by his tail. "You already know who you need to find and what you need to do," Code's smile turned vicious, "unless you want more."

"Pira-chuu! CHUU!"

"Good," Code said and booted Pirachu out through the hole in the ceiling like a soccer ball. "If you do a good job, perhaps I'll return your ability to speak."

He stared up through the hole until Pirachu disappeared from sight. "Guess I'll just wait here until they're done up there. Wouldn't want to steal the limelight from them," he murmured quietly to himself. He placed a hand on the pedestal that once held the Sharicite Crystal. Gold and black lines of code streamed from his hand into the pedestal as he rewrote the underlying code and transformed the plain stone pedestal into a nice leather reclining chair. "This'll do for now."

As he rested himself in the chair he took control over a portion of the nanomachines in the air around him. He forced them to create a screen in front of him where he could monitor the battle above.

"It really is nice, having so much control."

**~o~**

It was a far more difficult battle than Noire would have thought. CFW Brave was much more agile than his large size might otherwise suggest. His skill with the blade wasn't anything to pass off either. As much as it pained Noire to admit it, he was at least as good as she was. It really was something she should have expected. Even if CFW Brave was working for another hidden force, he was still considered a high tier boss enemy. His level was on par with her own, but he got the standard villainous boost that all boss enemies seemed to get, meaning his HP and SP was far greater than her own.

There were burn marks and deep cuts all over his armor, but nothing that had yet been deep enough to pierce the important parts beneath it. She was in the same condition, she hadn't been able to avoid all his strikes and a few cuts marred her flesh and opened her black bodysuit.

If it came down to a battle of attrition, Noire would lose, but she didn't have any intention of letting it get that far. All bosses had weaknesses that if exploited would give one a great advantage. Once she figured out what weakness CFW Brave had, she'd have her victory.

In the meantime, the fire support from below gave her a slight edge for which she was thankful of. They kept CFW Brave from blind siding her or provided crucial distractions at just the right time. Kei knew her stuff well and how to best utilize the men below.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw a black and white shape shoot up out of the ruins where a massive beam had erupted a few minutes earlier. A white and purple shape soon followed after the first.

A smile broke out across her lips as someone she didn't recognize, but instinctively knew who it was, flew up beside her. "What took you so long, Uni?" Noire asked her white-haired little sister.

"Sorry, sis," Uni said to her as she eyed CFW Brave. "It took a little longer than planned, but I'm here to get some payback for what this bastard did to me!"

"Uni!" Nepgear called out as she arrived a few moments later.

Noire didn't know why Nepgear was here, but that would make things even easier against CFW Brave if things went wrong. Not that she would ask, but if Nepgear was willing to offer her services she might accept.

"Nepgear." Nepgear flinched as if struck and a surge of fear consumed her face but the CPU Candidate of Neptune quickly fought it down.

Nepgear gave her a hesitant smile. She still wasn't over what Noire supposedly did to her in the future. Well, Noire couldn't blame her too much, she wasn't quite sure how she'd take it if she was betrayed and killed by someone she had come to trust.

"Three-on-one is not particularly honorable," CFW Brave said, eyeing the three of them.

Uni scowled and pointed her huge beam cannon at her, "and what was honorable about attacking me in my home? About beating me to within an inch of my life and dragging me off to some unknown place?"

CFW Brave bowed his head and acquiescent, "I suppose that is true enough. In compensation for my cowardly act earlier, I shall overlook this three-on-one situation."

"Not three-on-one, just me," Uni said fiercely, "I will be enough to finish you off."

"Oh?" Noire cocked an eyebrow at her little sister. She seemed to be far more confident now than she had been before. That was good to see, but at the same time, she wasn't done with CFW Brave.

Uni threw her an apologetic look, "sorry, sis, but I'm going to have to steal him from you."

"I shall be happy to test your resolve!" CFW Brave said as he leveled his sword on Uni, "my will resonates through my blade! Let's see how strong your will resonates through—"

"Oblivion Shot!" A black ball of energy slammed into CFW Brave before he could finish his speech, rocking the super villain back. Both poison and paralysis appeared above the super villains head, slowing him down and forcing him to take continuous damage as the corrosive poison ate at his metallic frame.

"That was not—"

"EX Multi Blaster!" The same beam of energy that had punched its way through the ancient ruins slammed into CFW Brave, sending him tumbling through the sky.

Uni was quick to rush after CFW Brave before he got out of range of her processor's ability to track him properly. "I'm not the same Uni as before!" Uni shouted at CFW Brave, "I won't forgive you for what you did, for what you were going to do. I won't let you use Brave Blade on my sister!"

"Uni?" Noire whispered to herself in surprise as she watched her sister beat CFW Brave all over the sky. The mega villain couldn't do anything in retaliation. Uni was a long distance combatant, CFW Brave was a close range. Uni was far faster, and far more agile. Whenever CFW Brave tried to close the gap, Uni widened it with explosive speed that he couldn't keep up with.

And because of her long range, Uni was free to assault CFW Brave with impunity. Explosion after explosion resounded across the zone, filling the sky with fire and light. Uni wasn't giving CFW Brave any room to maneuver, or anytime to charge his abilities and retaliate. She danced around him with a grace and speed Noire felt she would be hard pressed to match, and was both jealous of, and immensely proud of, Uni for achieving.

At one point during the fight Noire thought she saw a small purple rat disappear into the horizon but she was certain it was just her imagination, a mirage kicked up by all the light and fire.

"Uni… is like me now," Nepgear said quietly, hesitantly. Noire glanced over at Neptune's little sister but Nepgear refused to return the look, her gaze fixated on Uni in the distance. "Uni met with her future self, the same one that I know. They're both together now, joined as one. She wanted the strength to be able to protect you, and to protect Lastation."

"Foolish girl," Noire muttered, "I would have made her plenty strong myself, she didn't need to resort to this."

"I know, and she knows that. But Uni wants to make you proud, and she doesn't want to wait to do that."

"Humph," she was already proud of her little sister. She didn't need to go to this length to prove that.

"Your will is strong! Just like that of your older sister," CFW Brave shouted. He was glowing brightly now, his special ability gauge was fully charged. "I acknowledge your will, your resolve, your strength. Take this, everything I have!"

"No," Uni said as she lifted her hand to the sky. "Orbital Strike!"

"Brave Bla—!"

CFW Brave never got to finish his attack as an enormous orbital satellite appeared in the sky above them. A pillar of light surrounded the super villain and an ominous humming sound kicked up. And then he disappeared as an enormous and mind numbingly powerful beam of energy slammed into him from the orbital satellite.

It pounded him into the ground, into the ruins on the peninsula below. A massive dome of energy and fire engulfed the entirety of the ruins. A howling wind kicked up and both Noire and Nepgear had to brace themselves or be blown away.

With a deafening roar the dome erupted, sending an enormous pillar of fire rising to the heavens. The heat was so intense the two of them could feel it where they were.

When the fire and smoke disappeared, all that was left was a smoking crater in the ground where the ruins had once been. And even that for not much longer, as the entire peninsula cracked and gave way, sliding down the side of the escarpment and crashing into the waves of the ocean below.

"Uni's super attack, designed to wipe out a minor viral army," Nepgear said quietly as she stared at the devastation left over by the strike.

It was certainly impressive but, "she better not use that on any populated city centers."

"Sometimes… the alternative was far worse," Nepgear whispered almost too quietly for Noire to pick up.

"See sis! I'm strong now," Uni said as she flew over to their side. There was a huge smile on her face.

"Well of course you are, I wouldn't expect anything less out of my little sister," Noire returned, trying to sound as unconcerned by her little sister's newfound strength. "Now come on, let's meet up with Kei. I believe it is time we returned home and celebrated your new power."

"Right!" Uni said with a wide, happy smile on her face. "You're coming too, right Nepgear?"

"Oh but I ah—"

"It would be rude of me to turn away Neptune's little sister," Noire said as she rounded on Nepgear, "I will have you join us as well, I insist."

"But I—"

"Oh stop complaining, Nepgear, and come on," Uni said as she grabbed Nepgear's hand. "We have some catching up to do! And I still need to settle the score."

"Oh… alright," Nepgear relented and let the two of them drag her away. But as the three of them left, Nepgear had a niggling feeling she was forgetting something.


	16. The Effort One Must Expend

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hyperdimension Neptunia. All characters, thoughts and ideas that exist in this story that were taken from the original works belong to their creators, Compile Heart and Idea Factory. Only original thoughts and or characters created in this story are my own.**

**Note on Harem: **Just a quick note to reinforce something said earlier. There's **no harem** in this story. It might seem like it crosses the line at times, especially with some of the content of this chapter, but it hops back across it just as quickly.

**Chapter 16: The Effort One Must Expend**

**At some point in time either in the past or future, somewhere that may or may not be the current Gamindustri…**

Code brushed the dust and dirt from his black body armor as he slowly stood. There had just been enough time to throw himself back into the future before the ruins had come crashing down upon him. He'd been meaning to come back here for some time so it had served as a decent enough excuse. Avoiding death was always a valid excuse in his books.

He wanted to see what was different after all the changes he had enacted in the past. If his efforts thus far had been enough. After all, both Neptune and Nepgear were inoculated against the virus, so things should be better.

But as he looked around he quickly realized that if anything, things were worse.

"It hasn't changed." The hill he stood on was charred and filled with craters. It overlooked the burnt out city of Lastation.

The land was still scared by war and death, and what still lived, envied the dead. There was no green anywhere to be seen, it was either burned to ash or a dark grey color signifying advanced viral decay.

The once bright blue sky was covered by deep purple clouds that roiled over one another. From time to time, black lightning arced from the clouds to the ground or each other. The peel of thunder that rolled over him afterwards was as dead and hollow as the land around him.

"After everything I've done, it still hasn't changed," Code slumped to his knees and pounded his fist on the burned and darkened hill. "What do I need to do to change this?!"

His Neptune would still be viral, infected. Even now he could see a mile high statue dedicated to Her magnificence presiding over the ruins of Lastation. It had been under construction when he'd left before. It was done now, so he had obviously arrived at a much later time than when he'd left. And he could see that what was left of that ruined capital had become a place of horror now, filled only with viral monsters and the few hapless residents of Lastation that lived as their play things.

Just outside was one of the 'Farms' that had been set up after his departure for the past. Anyone that was born or captured that didn't worship Ultimate Neptune, were brought to one of the farms and… made to worship her.

"This can't be..." Histoire stared uncomprehendingly at the world around her, having difficult believing this was what was in store for her dimension. Her once vibrant eyes dulled from the weeks of confinement. Being ripped from her book and stuck in his Histoire's book had really done a number to her. In retrospect it may have been kinder to simply have killed her than subject her to the horror that had become his dimension.

His Histoire had been infected by his virus. She had been insane to begin with. This Histoire was not, but she probably would be, if she survived.

"It's the future I have been trying to prevent… to fix," Code said to Histoire.

"You caused this?"

"Yes," Code said to Histoire, "I started the Viral War, and made the virus that infected Noire but…" he shook his head slowly. "Once I met Neptune, everything changed. But by then everything had changed."

"What do you mean?" Histoire asked in a deadened voice. She shuddered as a tendril of darkness rose up from the pages of her book and coiled itself around her leg. The tendril caressed her thigh for a few moments before it buried itself in her flesh.

Histoire ignored it, she had learned the hard way you did not resist it. The more you struggled, the more tendrils appeared. It would disappear in time.

A sardonic grin broke out across his lips, "Just that. I tried to end the Viral War. I closed the portal. However Rootkid decided to get involved. He never was one for direct confrontation, always hiding behind the scenes. He took a liking to my approach and when I gave it up he decided to see it through to its end."

Histoire turned her dull eyes on him. "Rootkid is here?"

Code shook his head, "No. He likes to control things from Viraldustri. He controlled the gateway that allowed the hordes of viral monsters to pour through. That's closed now, but the damage done…" He swept his hand across the landscape before him. "Well, you can see the result of that war. The invasion got worse and worse because of him. He only stopped because there was no longer any need to continue, because my virus had finally kicked in, not because Neptune and the others actually won."

In the distance he saw a long procession of shadowy outlines exit from the depths of the ruins of Lastation, escorted across the barren, burnt out wasteland towards one of the many farms by a number of hulking, viral monstrosities. Misery hung above them like a dark cloud, they knew the fate that awaited them.

There was nothing he could do for them so he turned back to Histoire. "I had implanted the virus into Noire the moment I arrived. I wanted to see the shocked look on Neptune's face as Noire turned viral right before her. Watch as their friendship came crumbling down around them and a new chapter of the 'Console War' unfolded." He glanced over at Histoire, she seemed to be only half paying attention. The rest of her attention was on the procession. He continued on. "However the virus was either too weak or Noire was simply too strong, possibly both. I'd never tried to infect a CPU before so I wasn't sure the strength that was required. Her strong Ego and stubborn personality kept it suppressed for years before it finally found a chink in her defenses wide enough to push through. By the time it did, I'd switched sides. I thought she'd actually beaten it, not suppressed, so hadn't investigated it any further." He shook his head from side to side. "Sad thing is, it may have been my getting close to Neptune that created that chink. Neptune was her first friend, her best friend, and the thought of a _man_ of all things getting between that friendship even if that hadn't been my intent…" He let out a sigh. "Well the rest of that is history. My Histoire then took that virus and infected Neptune with it, mistakenly thinking that was what I wanted. Without a properly formed Ego and with more emotional scars than anyone had any right to have, she hadn't been able to resist it."

"So it really is all your fault," Histoire said dully.

He gave her a sad smile, "Yes, and I'm afraid of what that means. Perhaps the only way to stop this," he gestured at the landscape again, "is to..." he stopped and shook his head. He wouldn't go down that path. It would defeat the purpose of even trying to do all this.

But then… there was little point in living in a world where Neptune's smile didn't exist.

"What was that?" Histoire asked.

"It's nothing," he hadn't meant to say that aloud and was just glad it was too quiet for her to hear properly. "Come, I need to check on something."

Before he enacted the final plan to stop the Viral War before it ever began, there was something he needed to do. Spybore needed to be taken care of. Even the combined might of everyone currently in Gamindustri wouldn't be enough to take him down. Most of them were too weak to make a noticeable impact. Uni and Nepgear would probably be the only two, and they were both still far shy of the strength needed to actually cripple him.

He hoped to change that.

Code started north as fast as he could while keeping as low to the ground as possible. Flying was dangerous here, there were countless outposts manned by those loyal to Ultimate Neptune designed to detect and track the remnants of Lowee. It was dangerous on the ground as well, but less so, and he knew how to bypass the patrols and hordes of viral monsters that roamed the land.

He could sense their viral presence.

Histoire clung onto his shoulder as he raced across the landscape. She had little desire to stay with him, but necessity drove her to. He was her only way back to her original book. Even if the chances of that ever happening were slim she held onto that thin strand of hope like a life line.

The landscape changed little as he made his way north across what was once Lastation. It was burned and scared, and viral where it still lived. The dungeons and zones were all converted as well, twisted mockeries of their former glory. No one delved inside them anymore, they were little more than a breeding ground for the viral monsters to multiply and spill out from.

A deep crevice in the earth was all that was left of the mountain range that separated the land of Lowee from Lastation. It had been torn asunder and ripped away by some enormous force. What were once beautiful snow-capped peaks was now a festering, boiling pit of dark purple miasma.

There were several bridges over the canyon, but all were guarded by those fanatically loyal to Ultimate Neptune, so Code simply leapt the chasm with a single bound.

The land was a little better on this side of the chasm. It was still burned and scared in many places, a testament to the fierce resistance Lowee had put up when Ultimate Neptune had begun her march northward, but there were pockets of snow here, a copse of trees over there. This land had yet to give up.

The land looked healthy enough that there may even still be some people hidden away in far flung villages, and not simply all bunkered up in Lowee.

That may have been what that procession of NPCs was. A hidden village that had been discovered and taken.

It wasn't until they neared the snow-covered wonderland that was the city of Lowee that Histoire finally spoke, having been silent the whole way thus far.

"I can't believe Neptune would ever do this," Histoire said Code raced across the Lowee landscape. "Even viral this just seems…"

"Too horrible?" Code finished for her. "It's not her, not really. It's because she's a blank slate. She had no Ego, or at least by this time, not a properly developed one so the Virus itself is in control and dictating her actions. While the Virus _is_ colored by her, it's ultimately just a Virus with no concern other than spreading itself as fast and as quickly as possible. Neptune herself is suppressed beneath it all, but utterly unreachable because she doesn't have the strength of will to break free." He tossed her an angry look, "because you prevented her from developing an Ego, this can happen to her. Even when Noire had been infected, she had acted based on her desires and goals. This—" he waved his hand around him, "would never have happened. She may have forced everyone to bow down to her, but she would not have turned them viral. She would not have ruined the world like this. It would have been stuck under a tyrannical rule, but the world itself would still be salvageable." He glanced around, "this dimension is ruined beyond repair. The only hope now…" he trailed off.

"Is to prevent it from ever happening," she finished dully.

"Yes," Code said, "and I'm doing everything I can to return it to the way it was. I am guilty of starting it down this path, I will not deny that, but I know now that it was wrong, and I'm doing everything I can to correct my mistake." He glanced at Histoire, "are you willing to do the same?"

"The Revival Protocol would have—"

"Failed," Code cut her off. "Like it did with all the other Histoire's that succeeded in initiating it."

She shot him a startled look. That had caught her off guard. "W-What do you mean?"

"When the True Goddess died, she wasn't just split into eight different Sharicite crystals," Code told her. He ducked into a still unspoiled snow covered forest to avoid a patrol.

"But she was!" Histoire protested violently. Several more dark tendrils rose up from the book and embedded themselves in her body. She forced herself to calm down. "All her power is contained within those eight crystals. When the CPUs combined level reaches a 999 that power can be extracted and combined within Neptune to restore the Goddess's—"

"Physical form. I know, and along with it all her power," Code finished for her, "but not her mind or her soul. Her mind and her soul are completely separate things from her body."

"She will return, I know she will," Histoire insisted stubbornly.

Code shook his head, "the Goddess loved all of Gamindustri. She ruled over it because she was all there was, because she was needed. She's not all there is anymore, she is no longer required, Neptune, Noire, Blanc, Vert, and all the others, they're doing just as good a job as she could. Things aren't perfect, sure, but they're not so bad the True Goddess feels _any_ need to step in. Besides, a piece of her exists in the hearts and souls of each and every denizen of Gamindustri. For her to return to her body would harm every living creature in Gamindustri." Code glanced at Histoire who seemed shell-shocked by that revelation. He could see understanding starting to dawn in her eyes. "You know her better than anyone. Do you think she'd willingly return to her body if it meant the lessening of every living thing in Gamindustri, especially when there was no reason to in the first place?"

Despondent, Histoire's lowered her eyes to the black pages beneath her, "No."

"No indeed. And what do you think would happen to all that power once gathered in a body with no mind to control it, no soul to color it, and the only consciousness within it firmly suppressed so deep inside it can't awaken no matter what is done?"

"It would explode," she said in a dead voice as the magnitude of what she had been trying to do sunk in.

"Several dimensions have already been destroyed, that is how I know this," Code said, "and my Histoire helped fill in some of the blanks as well." He stopped at the edge of the forest and made sure it was clear before he continued on. He could see the enormous barrier that surrounded Lowee in the distance, they were really close now. "The Histoires of Hyperdimension and Ultradimension have already come to this conclusion and have long given up on the Revival Protocol. Others have as well, but some of you haven't."

Histoire was silent for a time after that. Lowee grew larger and larger as Code neared the city. Lowee was the only place left in Gamindustri where the sun still shone. A blue crystal barrier rose up around the outskirts of the city and pierced the sky above, opening a hole in the broiling purple clouds that covered all of Gamindustri. That barrier was the primary reason Ultimate Neptune had yet managed to conquer Lowee.

The twins, Star and Ocean, had sacrificed their lives to create that barrier. Even now their life force fueled it, and so long as their will remained strong, the barrier too would remain strong.

But everyone knew it was merely a delaying tactic. Eventually it would fail or Ultimate Neptune would grow powerful enough to simply tear it down. However, in the meantime, it safeguarded the one pristine location left in the dimension.

"Do you really love Neptune, M. Code?" Histoire spoke up suddenly.

Code threw Histoire a confused look. Why would she care what he felt? They were arch enemies, or should be rather. He humored her regardless.

"Histoire, if my actions are not enough to convince you of that, nothing I say will," Code said honestly. "Look at this world. It should be a dream come true, victory in its purest form. I could easily destroy that barrier. They'd let me in, and then it's just a matter of destroying Star and Ocean once inside. With the barrier down, Lowee would fall within the week." He shot Histoire an even look. "The virus is colored by Neptune, and I am its original creator. Both of them recognize and accept me. If I emerged from the ruins of Lowee, the architecture of its destruction, her gratitude would be boundless. I'd have all Neptune is capable of giving, but I would never be able to have the one thing I really want." He turned from Histoire and started to look for the gates into the city. There weren't very many still active, but there was one on the south side he wanted to go through. "If this is what I desired, why would I bother putting so much effort into changing things?"

"You really are different from the Code I knew," Histoire whispered.

"In some ways, yes, but I'm still a bastard, I'm not going to deny that," Code said. "Some things are simply too engrained to ever really disappear. I've done a lot of horrible things, and I will continue to do horrible things if that's what's necessary to undo all this." He grinned at her, "such as what I am doing to you. Which reminds me, I can't have them seeing you so I'm going to need to seal you up again."

Histoire simply nodded her head tiredly as he clamped the book shut around her and chained it up at his side on his pants beneath his open skirt. It would be hidden from view where it was.

With Histoire safely tucked away from view he headed for the gates of Lowee. The guards at the gate let him through when he arrived. He was known here, although they did give him some suspicious looks as he passed under that archway.

Known, accepted, but not exactly trusted.

The city of Lowee was much the same as it was before: A beautiful, winter wonderland. Small colorful homes lined the streets, the rooftops covered in just a few in inches of fresh white snow. Children played in the streets building snowmen or chasing one another around merrily. Dutiful parents watched over them from doorways and windows, sometimes they even joined in. Commerce continued where it could, with almost all things grown and manufactured within the city limits. On the surface it seemed as it always had before.

But Code could see the wariness beneath it all. Parents eyed him suspiciously as he hurried down the streets. The kids stayed closed to their homes, and stayed as far away from him as they could. Merchants paused momentarily in their joyful hawking as he passed by, eyeing him as if he wondering if he would steal their goods. It was impossible to ignore what was going on outside the barrier and it put a pall over the city that even the joyful cries of playful children couldn't dispel.

As much as they tried to hide it, a thin pale of gloom hung across the city, making the laughter and cheer seem almost forced.

He didn't tarry, knowing his presence made everyone uncomfortable. His loyalty to Neptune during the war was well known, and while he had not visibly sided with her after she'd gone viral, that caution was still there, that worry that he might turn on them. Falcom and UbiSlyph had received much the same treatment as well. The two of them had confined themselves to the Basilicom unless they were needed to fend off an attack.

It didn't take long to reach said Basilicom, the fanciful fantasy castle that rose up from the very center of Lowee, surrounded by a lovely little moat that was much too small to actually be practical. The wall around the Basilicom was anything but however, it was tall, sturdy, and had been reinforced several times over. It was designed as a final stand, the last bastion of hope. Or that was the impression it was supposed to give off, in reality it would do very little against Ultimate Neptune once she broke through the outer barrier.

The steady stream of citizens that used to come and go from the Basilicom, asking for this and that, of the Basilicom staff was missing. Few came here these days. The people of Lowee had learned to deal with issues on their own, leaving Blanc to focus on the duty of keeping them all safe and alive.

Star and Ocean were up there at the top of the castle. He could see their bodies, crystalized, circling around the Basilicom opposite each other. They'd never have a flesh and blood body again. They still lived, in a manner of speaking, but only so that they could control and direct the flow of energy into the barrier. One could see the blue and white energy flowing off them and infusing the barrier around the city.

The guards at the end of the drawbridge let him pass without comment as had the ones at the outer wall. He crossed the drawbridge, passed under the arched gateway of the large wall and into the courtyard beyond. Fresh white snow covered the grounds here, just like much of the city beyond. An interlocking white stone walkway led from the gates to the main entrance to the Basilicom.

Inside the Basilicom Mina was waiting for him, standing next to the red carpet that rain the length of the large audience chamber and its high, vaulted ceiling. Gloom clung to her frame and darkened the normally bright vaulted chamber. Even here the oppressive feeling that the end was near clung to everything.

"Code," Mina greeted him respectfully. There were dark circles around her eyes as if she didn't get much sleep anymore and weariness in her voice that foretold a resignation of the end that was to come soon. "I see you've come back."

"I am back," Code replied smoothly, playing along. If the timeline had changed, even a bit, then he technically shouldn't have gone back yet. Which meant something else happened to him this time around.

"Blanc will be happy," Mina said and started down the red carpeted, escorting him to the others. "She might not show it very much, but she's missed you."

Blanc missed him? It made Code wonder just what happened between when the ruins collapsed on him and now.

They continued the rest of the way in silence, passing through the empty hallways of the castle until they finally reached Blanc's sanctuary where she spent most of her days and nights.

"She's in here," Mina said, gesturing to the golden pair of large double doors.

"Are you not coming in?" Code asked curiously.

Mina gave him a wan smile and shook her head, "there is too much to do. I already know the results of your effort, and I know what Blanc plans from here on. If you will excuse me." Mina bowed her head to him and headed back down the hallway.

"Blanc has plans?" Code asked quietly, watching Mina's exhausted form disappear down the hallway. Maybe some things had changed after all, enough that perhaps he could make things right…

But no, the land was still scarred beyond repair. He needed to go back again.

Still, he better see what these plans were, perhaps they could help. He wasn't going to give up. There were still other things he could change that might cause enough of a ripple impact to change this future. Giving the vaccine to Neptune wasn't a sure-fire thing. After all he had developed both the virus and the vaccine.

It was not inconceivable that, in the future, Rootkid had made a stronger virus that overcame his own vaccine.

He placed his hand on the doors hands on the door and pushed them open. The room beyond was the same as always. It was ridiculously long, a ceiling that seemed to disappear into eternity, and blue/white marble floor. The walls were really just an alternation between tall white square pillars and an alcove with a chair and a large candle sitting atop a blue and gold candle stand taller than most people. The room was brightly lit, fed by enormous windows in each of the alcove during the day and the candles at night.

At the far end of the room was a small golden carpet that ran beneath a desk and up to a four-posted bed. On the desk was Blanc's personal computer and the bed was where she laid to rest, the few nights she actually decided to get rest.

As Code made his way down the ridiculously long room he took note of the brown-haired CPU of Lowee was sleeping in her bed, the covers slowly rising and falling with each breath. Mina had probably forced her to sleep a little, she was like that. Mina could afford to be exhausted, she had no battle strength. Gust aside, a CPU was the only one that could fight against another CPU. Blanc probably needed to be at her best at all times.

Stopping at the side of the bed Code couldn't stop his mischievous side from arising. Seeing her sleeping facing made him want to play a practical joke on her. Despite all his good intentions, he was still a bastard and some things would never really change.

He pulled all his clothes into his inventory and slid beneath the covers beside Blanc. He gently touched her chest and fed some code into her light dress. It too disappeared, returning to Blanc's inventory along with her underwear. He laid on his side beside her and stretched an arm across her chest.

Then he poked her cheek, a sure fire way to wake her up. It was a self defense measure she had adopted to fend off Rom and Ram's doodling.

"Hrm?" Blanc groaned as she slowly woke up. She blinked a couple times and then stared at the arm across her chest in confusion.

"So, was it as good for you as it was for me?" Code whispered into her ear in a low, lascivious voice.

Her eyes trailed up the arm to his face, slowly widening as they made the journey. Her face tilted towards him. Confusion, bewilderment, embarrassment, they were all there. She was still half asleep so she wasn't quite ready to process what was going on. Her sleepy mind simply accepted what her eyes saw as fact.

"W-What?!"

"You don't remember?" Code asked as he arched an eyebrow, "it was quite the night, you kept screaming my name out loud, I was afraid we'd wake up Rom."

Her body went rigid and her eyes opened wide with shock. Embarrassment colored her cheeks a bright red color. "How… when did we…" her eyes went flat as her mind kicked into drive and started to work. Code tensed up as he braced for impact. "Damn it Code!" Blanc roared, her eyes went bright red from anger. She sat up quickly, ripped him from her bed, and hammered a powerful haymaker into his chest.

There wasn't even enough time to let out a shout before he made the trip across the room and slammed harshly into one of the pillars. It cracked and splintered beneath the force of his impact and he made a small, Code shaped indentation in the wall.

He pulled himself out of the hole in the wall. "Ow." That was painful, but definitely worth it. It was good to see that Blanc was still Blanc.

"You bastard!" Blanc roared at him, her face flushed in embarrassment and anger. She was shaking one fist at him while using the left to cover her breasts. There was a gold ring on one finger. "This isn't the time for your jokes, Code, and where the hell have you been?"

"Rarely is, Blanc," Code said as he wiped what concrete and dust he could off his body. After cleaning as much as he could he equipped his clothes. "But its dark times like these that jokes are the most important, it gives us something other than despair and fear to focus on."

"That's not what I meant," Blanc retorted angrily. She stared at him for a few, long uncomfortable silence before she let out a sigh, her anger draining away as a resigned look crossed her features. "I guess you're not my Code. I was hoping..." she trailed off and shook her head, becoming serious. "No matter crying over useless shit."

Huh? Her Code?

He must have heard wrong.

"Sorry," Code said. What was he supposed to say to that? "Is Rom still alive?" He had come here to recruit some of the powerful heroes to bring back, UbiSlyph in particular would be a valuable asset. However Rom would be even better if she was alive.

"She is," Blanc said slowly. She lowered her arm from her chest and adopted a thinking posture. "For all the good it will do. Lowee can't hold out much longer against Neptune and Nepgear."

"I know, once Neptune—" Wait a minute… "Nepgear?!" That didn't make any sense at all. Noire killed Nepgear.

"Blanc shot him an annoyed look, "I know you're frickin stupid sometimes, but really. Neptune and Nepgear just up and went viral one day, no explanation. One moment they were fine and the next they had their swords buried up to the hilt into Noire's and Uni's backs. Things changed really quickly after that and now the two of them have brought Gamindustri to the brink of ruin. Leanbox and Lastation are both destroyed, Falcom, Valkyrie, Vert, Xone, Ram, they're all dead."

"And UbiSlyph?" Code asked.

"Who?" Blanc tilted her head in confusion.

"Things have changed a lot…" Code said. "But not for the better." If anything, this was worse than before. At least before Falcom, UbiSlyph and Valkyrie were still alive, still defending Lowee.

It also reinforced the true source of the problem that plagued Gamindustri.

"How have things changed?" Blanc demanded as she stood up from the bed, heedless to her state of undress.

"It was just Neptune before, who was infected," Code explained to her, "Nepgear was killed by Noire, and Uni was killed by Neptune. There was an enormous battle after that near the ruins of Lastation. Falcom, UbiSlyph, Valkyire, Star and Ocean, they were all still alive, they'd retreated to Lowee with you. Vert had survived the battle but you'd been forced to kill her afterwards."

"I remember that battle," Blanc said with a shake of her head, "it was our last ditch effort to stop Neptune and Nepgear before they became too strong. But it wasn't enough, everyone died. I barely made it out with Rom, and only because Xone and Vert sacrificed themselves for us to escape." Rage marred Blanc's doll like features, "those pieces of shit tore them to shreds and laughed the entire time! I'll never forgive them!"

It seemed a great deal changed this time, and giving the vaccine to both Neptune and Nepgear had simply ensured that _both_ of them would end up going viral.

"Mommy? Are you fighting?" a small, quiet voice picked up from across the room.

Blanc's expression melted and she hurried across the room to someone Code didn't recognize. There was a very young little girl sleepily rubbing bright blue eyes that were still full of youth and innocence. She couldn't be any more than two years old, at most. The little girl had short brown hair with green tips that looked like an exact replica of Blanc's and even wore a similar style dress, although Blanc would never think about carrying a stuff bear behind her like the little girl was.

"It's alright, Virtual, mommy and daddy are just talking. Everything will be fine." Blanc gathered the young girl up in her arms and gently stroked her hair.

Blanc was a mother? She was like the last person in the world Code would ever consider consenting to have a child. She'd be so pissed off at the idea of having to carry something around for nine months and then go through labor pains just to get rid of it she'd kill anyone for suggesting it.

Wait a minute… Daddy? He was the only other person in the room.

…

What the fuck?

He could only imagine the expression on his face as he stared at the two of them. "Another difference?" Blanc asked as she walked past him and settled herself on the edge of her bed. Virtual nuzzled her face in Blanc's chest and quickly fell asleep again, her tiny little arms clung to Blanc as tightly as they could.

He didn't respond, he just continued to stare at the spot where the two of them had been with his mouth hanging ajar and his eyes popping out of his skull.

"Not surprised, we did it just to piss Neptune and Nepgear off after they restarted the whole Console War thing," Blanc said as she stared fondly down at the child in her arms. "You two were supposed to get married, eventually, but she kept putting it off. We hoped that the two of us m-m…" she cleared her throat and looked away, a light blush on her cheeks. Code noticed for the first time a small gold wedding band on Blanc's ring finger. "We thought that a large enough shock would help Neptune's fledgling Ego to break through her viral infection and take control, she's always been able to do illogical things and we were running out of ideas." Blanc let out a long resigned sigh. "It didn't work but…" When she turned back to him there was a particularly vicious grin on her lips. "I still remember the expression on Vert's face when you choose me over her. She was so confident her thunder tits would win you over."

He snapped his jaw shut and groaned. When put in that context, he could almost, _almost_, envision it happening. But damn things would have to have gone far off the beaten track for that to happen.

This whole time travel shtick was starting to give him a headache.

"I guess I need to go back, I can't leave this world like this," Code said. He gave Virtual a long look. He wasn't quite sure what to make of her. "I'm not giving up until I succeed."

"You probably won't get another chance," Blanc said, "If you were to return and Lowee is gone…" There would be no way for him to go back. He couldn't warp time in a viral section of the world. He could arrive in a viral area, but he needed a pure section of Gamindustri to link to the past otherwise the destination time would become warped.

Her eyes went flat and hard. "Code, don't come back again after this. You're simply going to have to see things through and accept whatever the results are," Blanc's eyes flashed angrily for a moment. "No matter how damn frustrating they are."

"I'm not giving up."

"I don't expect you to," Blanc said, giving him a fond smile that seemed very out of place on her lips. "But perhaps… perhaps it was simply not to be." She lowered her eyes to their child. "These past three years weren't all bad, but perhaps this fate is something we simply have to resign ourselves to accept."

"This isn't like you Blanc. Where is that fire you always have? That refusal to give up?"

"Dying with my people," she said. "Hope needs to be fed to survive, and there is nothing to feed ours. The viral infection advances closer to Lowee with each passing day. The villages on the outskirts of my land that have managed to survive by hiding are quickly running out of places to run. We lose at least one every week, there won't be any left in a few months."

"Sorry." He didn't know what else to say to that. This was ultimately all his fault. And apparently the vaccine had simply made things worse.

"You better be sorry," Blanc retorted angrily for a moment before her expression softened again. "But I-we know you tried. You, more than anyone else, has given his everything to ending this. You've made a difference," she shook her head, "just not enough."

He brushed a hand through his hair and stood there awkwardly. What was he to say after all that? It made him feel even worse for what he wanted to ask. Now that he knew Rom was alive, he wanted to take her from Blanc, bring her back to the past to help him train the others so that they were capable of facing Spybore.

There was something that was bothering him though. "What happened to me?" If what Blanc said was true then he should exist somewhere as well.

Her expression became sad, "I don't know. The day before we fought Neptune and Nepgear above Lastation you just… disappeared. We went to bed together, and I awoke alone. This is the first time I've seen you since, and you're a different Code." There was pain hidden in her eyes there. She had obviously hoped he was her Code.

Code knew what happened, he knew himself well enough. Without Neptune's smile, life wasn't worth living. As nice as Blanc was, she wasn't Neptune. It had most likely been his last ditch, suicidal effort to try and fix his mistake. He had probably gone to try and weaken them himself, before the battle. They probably didn't know what he was, so he would have gone alone to keep that secret from them. He was far stronger if he was able to freely use his viral abilities.

But if he had encountered Neptune and Nepgear prior to that battle, they would have been far to weak to have won. Something was odd there.

He glanced away from her towards the room Rom's room, the one she used to share with Ram. "Blanc I…"

"I know," she stopped him. She stood up and padded over to his side. She held their daughter out to him and he awkwardly accepted her, unsure on how exactly he was supposed to hold her and decided to mimic what he had seen Blanc doing before, holding her to his chest. "When you go back, take her with you, and Rom."

"What?!" He had no problems accepting Rom, but their daughter, Virtual, as well? That was going to cause a stir. He could only imagine the chaos that would arise from this.

"Lowee won't last much longer," Blanc said, clenching her fists tightly "And you're supposed to take Rom back anyways, you did before. I always wondered how Rom arrived with you at Noire's Basilicom, and now I know. But Virtual was never there. Maybe her presence might change things." She threw an annoyed look out one of the tall windows. "Anything is better than this."

"Wait, so you're telling me I've already made this trip to the future and took Rom back with me, and now I'm doing it AGAIN, only this time I'm taking Rom AND Virtual?" Code asked as he tried to sort out this strange loop in his head.

"Yes. It's probably a paradoxical leapfrog effect where each time you arrive in the future things have shifted because of the actions caused by your return to the past with new knowledge from the future creating a sort of continuously changing, infinite loop that'll create a strange sine wave pattern where the present will shift between viral infested and viral free as the necessary components required to create the current present future are shifted by what you bring back to past present to forge the future you need which you'll then need to fix as well as if the paradoxical leapfrog infinite loop continues forever it'll spin off an infinite number of alternate dimensions that will cause the fabric of the Mutli-Dimension Universe to burst causing the spontaneous destruction of everything." Blanc blinked a couple times and tilted her head to the side. "I think, anyways. Either that or it'll continue until there's no Lowee and you'll be stuck with whatever the results of your actions may be."

"How the hell did you say all that without taking a single breath?" Code asked incredulously. And then his head started to hurt as what she said actually clicked. He groaned and rubbed his temple with his free hand. "And now I'm getting another headache."

"Deal with it, you need to go. The moment Nepgear and Neptune recover their strength they will attack and their next assault will destroy us. Rom and I aren't enough to fend them off, and it will only be a matter of time before they break through the—"

A deep rumble shook the room.

Virtual woke up with a start and looked up at him with tired, bleary eyes. "Daddy? Are you hungwy?"

A pillar of blue and white light engulfed Blanc as she activated her HDD. "That's the signal for you to go! No more sitting on your damn ass Code, you better frickin make sure you don't screw up this time or I'll never forgive you!"

"I won't!" Code promised. He knew just how to fix things for sure this time. He had to strike at the source, remove the key component that caused the Viral War in the first place.

The doors to the room were blown open and Rom flew in quickly, already transformed into her HDD form. She was as Code remembered, wielding two staves, her own and her sister's. Her left eye was gone and an angry scar marred her face. The damage done to it irreversible on account of the viral energy that had been infused in the shattered ice fragments of her barrier.

"Sis! Neptune and Nepgear are attacking, the barrier is starting to crack." Rom called out to her sister as she shot over to their side. She started in surprise when she noticed him. "Code! Welcome home," She gave him a smile.

"I'm about to leave," Code said, "I think I know how to fix all this."

"Really?" Rom asked, "Ram will be returned?"

Code nodded his head, "yes."

Her smile lit up the room.

"Enough with the sappy talk," Blanc interrupted them harshly, "Rom, you're going with Code this time."

"But, sis, you need me," Rom protested.

Blanc's anger flared at her little sister. "I don't give a damn what you think I need, you're going, and that's that. We're all screwed if Code doesn't fix it this time, and you're going back to ensure the lazy bastard does a proper frickin job!"

"But!"

"No buts!" Blanc roared at Rom, causing her to flinch back a little. The room buckled as an enormous blue explosion shattered the barrier, filling the room with a bright blue light. There was silence for a few moments as the light died down, and then the screams began. Terror filled cries reached their ears. "The barrier is down! Now go! GO!"

And then Blanc did something he never thought she'd do. She kissed him. With one last lingering look she turned on her heel and blasted through the wall, shooting out into the city beyond to fight her final battle. Blanc's battle cry momentarily drowned out the screaming.

He shook his head, completely bewildered. The changes were extreme, but in a completely strange and different way. Rom stared after her sister with a worried look on her face. She wanted to go after her, help her in her final moments.

"We need to go, Rom," Code said as he walked over to Rom's side. "Blanc is buying us the time we need to go back. Let's change this, let's change all this death, all this war, all this misery."

A fierce look entered Rom's eyes, a look reminiscent of her more outgoing sister. "Yes."

Code balanced Virtual in one arm and wrapped the other around Rom's small shoulders. He brought his dimensional powers to bear on the area around them. Reality warped and shifted and then they were gone.

**x~X~x**

**Back in the present day…**

**In a place that may or may not be the same Gamindustri as the previous scene…**

**But is at least the same Gamindustri as the previous chapter…**

"This tea is quite good," Vert commented as she took a small sip from the small porcelain cup in her hand. The CPU of Leanbox gave Kei a curious look. "What blend is it?"

"It's Lady Noire's favorite," Kei said. The small metal tray that she had used to serve the tea was tucked beneath her arm. "It's a relatively new creation, we call it Final Flavor Seven, or FF7 for short. It has become quite popular amongst the RPG community."

"I can imagine why, it has this faint aroma of flowers and yet possess an aggressive flavour with a nostalgic aftertaste," Vert said appreciatively. "I may need to see about improving upon this."

"Do you have any pudding?" Neptune asked as she nibbled on a small biscuit that had been provided with the tea.

Kei had a patient smile on her face as she shook her head, "I'm afraid Lady Noire is not one for pudding, Neptune."

"Aww, fiddlesticks, Nepgear always brings me pudding with my tea." Neptune grabbed another biscuit from the porcelain plate in the center of the table.

"Hey that was mine!" Blanc snapped at Neptune and ripped the biscuit from her grasp. "Keep your hands to your own damn self you thief!"

"Aww, come on Blanc, you can share a little, right?"

"No," Blanc snapped at her and then shoved the entire biscuit in her mouth.

It was an odd scene there in Noire's sanctuary. Neptune, Vert and Blanc all sat in cushioned wooden chairs with high backs around a small round table that Kei had kindly brought out to accommodate her visit. It was a rare occurrence that brought all of them together like this. According to Kei, Noire was due back later today and that would place all four CPUs of Gamindustri in the same room, at the same time. Neptune couldn't remember the last time the three of them gathered together like this. Even her visit a few months earlier had simply been a whirlwind visit asking Noire to accompany them to R-18 Island, and Blanc had been here for little more than comedic purposes.

"So why are you guys here?" Neptune asked, eagerly leaning forward to get the scoop.

"None of your business," Blanc shot back gruffly, "it would probably go over your stupid head anyways."

"Most certainly," Vert agreed with Blanc. Her gazed softened a little. "But I do appreciate your help with Xone."

"Ah, don't worry about that," Neptune said, waving away her gratitude. "Xone is a friend, and friends look out for each other."

Vert smiled a little, "I suppose they do at that."

Neptune bumped into the table roughly, almost sending the cups of tea tumbling. "So is she up yet?" Neptune asked eagerly. "Not that I want her to start chucking pointy implements of hurt at me or anything."

"Not yet, but the equipment was just arriving when I left, I'm sure Chika has it all hooked up by now," Vert said, sounding confident in her Oracle. "Xone is in very capable hands."

**~o~**

"He he he he he," Chika approached CFW Judge with a huge pair of iron cutting shears in her hands.

"Whoa, w-what are you doing with those things you worthless meat bag?!" CFW Judge cried out as Chika approached him. There was a maniacal look in her eyes he did not like one bit.

There were was loud clicking sound as she snapped the cutters closed a couple times to test them. "These are the latest from Planeptune, guaranteed to cut through anything," Chika whispered in a harsh, grating voice. "Xone is mine to dress up and invade! I can't have you taking over my spot!"

"I'm the only thing keeping that woman alive you stupid bitch!"

"Not anymore," Chika said.

Oh, so that's what all those weird looking futuristic purple and white robot things hovering above Xone were for. This certainly wasn't good. "Now, now, should I not be compensated for keeping the woman and the fleshy bitch alive?"

"Being inside Xone is payment enough!" Chika said in a sing-song voice. Her eyes were filled with madness. "Now it's time to remove a parasite like you so I can have my turn!"

"You're as crazy as they are!" This was why he hated fleshy creatures. Always so insane. Not like his logical mayhem and destruction. Destruction was logical. Destroy everything, and then just keep destroying some more. Simple, logical.

"EYAHAHAHAHA!" Chika started to laugh maniacally as she attacked him with the giant shears.

That was his queue to get out of here. He flipped an internal switch and transferred his mind to the tiny little construct building itself inside Xone's womb. A moment after transferring in that warm, comforting location, he felt the connection with his primary head get severed. Xone would wake up within a day once they extracted him from her body so he needed to escape tonight, before she awoke. He was smaller than he had hoped to be before the escape, but he could gradually rebuild himself to be larger once outside.

He just needed to get away from that crazed and insane fleshy meat bag.

**~o~**

"Chika?" Neptune asked curiously, "that woman is scary."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Vert said calmly. "She's quite easy to deal with, just give her something to distract herself and she's easily amused. Aside from that, she's easily as good as Noire's Oracle is at administration work."

"Mina is better than both of them," Blanc said confidently as she leaned back in her chair, folding her arms across her chest.

"I beg to differ," Vert retorted.

Neptune flashed Blanc a wide smile. "I heard you got two little sisters Blanc! What are they like?"

"They're… well behaved, and good kids," Blanc said hesitantly.

**~o~**

"Rom! Ram! Get back here!" Mina's shout bounced along the hallway as she chased after the two little children.

Ram whooped excitedly and glanced over her should at Rom. "Hurry Rom! She's gaining on us!"

"Yes, Ram," Rom said as she ran as quickly as her two little legs could carry her, her long hair streaming behind her.

Mina's face was a mask of tolerant anger, "Rom! Ram! How many times have I told you that the nation's monthly financial reports are not to be used as doodle papers!"

"Not enough times, meanie!" Ram shouted back at Mina.

"Ram, I'm hungry," Rom said, holding her stomach.

"This way! We'll take a detour and lose her!" Ram said, grabbing her sister's hand and pulling her down a different hallway.

"I'm not done talking to you!" Mina shouted as she continued the chase.

**~o~**

Vert gave Blanc a sly look, "that didn't sound particularly convincing."

"Oh shut up thunder tits!" Blanc snapped at Vert angrily. "At least I didn't stupidly get my little sister nearly killed and forced to play host to a super villain!"

Vert stood up and slammed her palms on the table, "No, you didn't, you simply let your little sisters get chased around by a pedophile with a long tongue to the point where they nearly STARVED to death and _then_ you let them steal your Sharicite Crystal out from under your own nose!"

Blanc's chair went skidding across the floor as she angrily jumped to her feet. "You dare say that to my face you bitch! I'll fucking kill you!"

"Whoa, whoa whoa!" Neptune shouted, jumping on the table between the two of them, scattering the tea and remaining biscuits all over the floor. "No restarting the Console War! The story is almost over. We don't need any more plot threads introduced!"

"Stuff it Neptune! I'm going to cut this bitch down to size!" Blanc growled angrily as she stared at Vert's monstrous tits.

"I simply see a little child that needs to be chastised and made to learn her proper place," Vert added as she stared down her nose at Blanc.

**DING!**

"If the two of you want to fight, can you do it someplace else," Noire said, flipping her long black hair over her shoulder as she strode into her Sanctuary from the elevator. Her black and white dress swishing around her legs as she moved with long, purposeful strides. "I don't care if you two want to beat each other into a pulp, but do it outside."

Behind Noire were Uni, Nepgear and Kei, the former two were in their human forms like Noire was.

"Hey Noire, long time no see! Oh! And Kei has a twin!" Neptune said cheerfully, causing everyone in the room to freeze. Neptune fired a teasing grin at Blanc who seemed to be frozen in place. "You're not the only one with a pair of twins now!"

As one everyone turned to stare at the Kei hovering near the table who now seemed to be sweating a bit more profusely than she had been before.

Noire summoned her sword to her hand, "Kei doesn't have a twin."

The Kei at the table pointed at the one beside Noire. "She's the impos—" There was a flash of light and she was roughly cut off as a purple and black steel gauntlet slammed into her face.

Her face distorted comically, before she was launched across the room. Before the fake Kei could finish her flight, Neptune was above her once more, transformed into her HDD. With a powerful kick Neptune cratered the imposter into the floor.

"You're the imposter," Neptune said seriously as she glared down at the imposter. "Kei doesn't normally serve me biscuits with her tea. She always has a slice of cake waiting for me. I knew right away you weren't the real one."

The Kei buried in the floor beneath the hovering Neptune shifted and changed. In her place was CFW Magic. "How were you able to resist the virus laced biscuit?" she demanded.

"I'm immune," Neptune said, jerking her thumb at the viral status immunity over her shoulder. "Thanks to my lovely pudding maker."

"Impossible!" CFW Magic roared and shot out of the hole. Neptune tried to strike her again, using her sword this time, but the nimble super villain evaded her attack. There was a loud crashing sound as Neptune carved a deep cut into the tile floor, sending fragments of it flying in all directions.

CFW Magic quickly shot across the floor in an attempt to make it to the balcony and escape.

"I've been looking for you bitch!" Blanc roared, her eyes blazing with pure fury. The head of her enormous hammer slammed painfully into CFW Magic's spine, pulverizing the bone there with a powerful strike. "Frickin die!" the fiery CPU of Lowee launched the villain across the room, ending her escape attempt.

"It is not wise to pick a fight with four CPUs," Vert chastised the super villain as she hurtled towards her. "I have no personal grudge against you, but it would be rude of me to not lend my support behind the others in this situation." The blond haired Goddess of Leanbox suddenly flash stepped to CFW Magic's side. "Kinestra Slash!"

Vert seemed to teleport across the room. Behind her a dozen strikes tore into CFW Magic, ripping through what little remained of her defenses, leaving her floating helplessly in the air for Noire's finishing strike.

"No one tries to get the best of Lastation!" Noire shouted as she dove upon CFW Magic. "Lace Ribbon!" She disappeared and reappeared on the floor a few steps away from the villain. Five more cuts ripped through the villains body before she smacked painfully into the tile floor.

Neptune flew over to CFW Magic and placed her blade against the villain's throat before she could recover from Noire's attack. "Why don't you tell us why you're here?"

"Let's just pulverize the bitch," Blanc growled as she stomped over to Neptune. "She impersonated Mina, tortured her, and then stole my Sharicite Crystal!" Blanc stomped her foot on CFW Magic's ankle, grinding her heel into the bone.

"GAH! You damn bitch!" CFW Magic cursed Blanc. "Don't blame me because you're too stupid to notice the difference!"

"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Blanc roared cratered her foot into the floor, snapping CFW Magic's ankle like a twig.

"Now, now, Blanc," Vert said as she walked over to their side. "Neptune oddly brings up a valid point." She pointed her long lance at CFW Magic. "Why are you here? You had to know you wouldn't be able to beat the four of us."

"Who cares what the villain thinks," Noire said as she added her blade to theirs, "she obviously not very intelligent if she even considered trying to impersonate my Oracle. I would have figured her out in an instant!"

"Heh heh heh," CFW Magic started to laugh.

"What's so funny? You're completely outmatched!" Neptune said, warily eyeing the chuckling woman beneath her blade.

Her yellow eye shifted color, turning a deep red. "All the CPUs gathered in one place, I find this distinctly not boring." A deep, gravelly voice boomed. That was definitely not CFW Magic speaking anymore.

"What the hell is this?" Blanc demanded imperatively, grinding her food into the pulverized ankle some more. "Bring her back, I'm not done breaking this bitch!"

CFW Magic's eyes shifted from CPU to CPU. "I had initially found this place entertaining. But it has quickly come to bore me." His eyes returned to Neptune. "I had wanted to savor breaking you, piece by piece. Unfortunately boring things continue to impede that. I can see now why my brother wished for me to take over for him. You are quite boring. I much prefer breaking Plutia over you, she's not as boring."

"So you're the mastermind behind all our troubles recently," Vert said as she glared down at the thing inside CFW Magic. She poked the body with the tip of her lance. "If you are so bored, then leave."

"I believe I will, in due time." Neptune tensed, the way he said that sounded ominous. "But mother does not appreciate failure, so no matter how boring this is, I will see it through." He started to chuckle, a deep grating sound that pierced the ears and made Neptune want to cover them. "I do not like to be bored for _too_ long so I want to make things more interesting. I will give you two months to prepare, and then I will come for you, all of you. If you survive." The eyes started to glow ominously.

Vert started to back up. "I'm having a bad sense of deja-vu."

Nepgear suddenly appeared between them and CFW Magic. She grabbed CFW Magic by the arm and whipped her across the room towards the balcony.

"Uni!" Nepgear called out to her friend.

"I'm on it Nepgear!" Uni said as she slid across the floor. She stopped in a crouch and took aim at the flying body of CFW Magic that was glowing with an ominous green light. "I'll protect Lastation with my own two hands! XMB: Empress!" A massive beam of energy shot out from the tip of the assault rifle and slammed into CFW Magic. The already airborne super villain was shattered the sound barrier and the outer glass wall of the Basilicom as Uni's attack carried her out above the city and beyond.

Just as the body left the city limits it erupted in a massive ball of fire and death, consuming everything around it in a violent display of sick green energy. If that had gone off in the room it would have completely destroyed the Basilicom, and possibly much of the surrounding area.

Neptune deactivated her HDD form and threw her arms around her little sister's neck. "That's my Nep Jr., coming to the rescue like a true heroine!" Neptune said proudly, rubbing her cheek against Nepgear's. "Still not as good as me though."

Nepgear sheepishly scratched her cheek. "Eh heh, I just—"

Noire walked over to Uni and laid a hand on her shoulder. "It was my Uni that got her out of the city before she exploded," Noire shot back at Neptune, "your Nepgear was more like support."

"We just—" Uni started.

"I'm sure my Nepgear could have easily taken care of that ugly chick, no problemo!." Oh, Neptune wasn't having any of that. "She's just sweet and kind and the bestest little sister ever and let Uni have some of the glory. Sharing is Caring!" Nepgear was far better than Uni, no doubt about it.

"Oh please, Neptune," Noire scoffed her, talking right over Uni, "You're obviously bias here. Anyone can see that Uni is the superior sister. Any monkey can throw a sack of crap. But my Uni got her out of the city before she exploded and saved many lives, that takes real effort."

"Now girls, we all know that Xone would have handled her with grace and elegance," Vert stepped in, literally thrusting her chest between the two of them. "Something the two of your little sisters lack." She crossed her arms beneath her breasts and pushed them up, jiggling them in their faces.

"Stop frickin jiggling those damn things!" Blanc snapped at Vert.

"How can you even begin to claim that, she wasn't here?" Noire snapped at Vert.

"Coma," Neptune waggled her eyebrows at Vert. It was a mean thing to say, but she wanted to jump in as well since everyone else was.

Neptune suddenly found the tip of a lance an inch from her nose. "Say that again."

"Whoa!" Neptune reared back, "Vert went all Pisty on me!"

"How about I put you in a coma?" Blanc threatened Neptune.

"Wha?!" Neptune cried out, utterly confused. Why was everyone turning on her now? "I'm trying to help her get out of the coma! Xone's a friend."

"Histoire, you mean," Blanc said.

"No, it was sis, she insisted," Nepgear refuted Blanc, coming to her sister's defence. "Sis responded before Histoire even had the chance to read the message."

"And why are you three even here?" Noire demanded, glaring at the three of them. "I don't recall ever setting up a gathering at my place!"

"I did, Lady Noire," Kei stepped forward, "after the revelation that we came to about the attacks on the CPU Candidates, I thought it might be prudent for us to all get together to discuss a plan of action." Noire's Oracle glanced at the spot where CFW Magic had been earlier. "But it seems that threat decided to greet us first."

"You should have told me, Kei," Noire chastised her oracle, "now you've made me look ignorant."

"My apologies, Lady Noire," Kei sounded sincere as she bowed her head in respect. "I had hoped we'd have returned before they had arrived but we got delayed."

"It's fine, just tell me right away next time."

"That's not a bad idea though," Vert said as she jiggled her breasts again causing Blanc to shoot her another angry glare. "I vote, girls, that we set aside our differences for now until this creep is dealt with."

"I'll put away my differences when you put away those freakish melons of yours!" Blanc snapped at Vert. "But if this villain is the cause of the problems in Lowee count me in. I'm not satisfied yet."

"The big bad final villain has finally revealed himself!" Neptune cheered happily. "Now it's time for this Heroine to finally show everyone what she is made of!"

"Like you're the heroine," Noire retorted, placing her hands on her hips as leaned towards Neptune. "And I can't believe Histoire let you out of her sight without a minder," Noire said with a light shake of her head.

"I ah, may have snuck out after I broke her again," Neptune admitted sheepishly as she looked away from them. "She sort of went Super Pisty 3 and short circuited. But don't worry!" She was all smiles again. "IF and Compa are with her, they'll make her all better."

"What did you do this time sis?" Nepgear asked as she sat on the couch beside her sister.

**~o~**

"Good going Nep," IF said to herself for what must have been the fiftieth time since Neptune had saddled her with this responsibility.

Histoire's book was flat against a table with four high powered heaters positioned around it. Histoire herself was laid out on her back, staring dizzily up at the ceiling above her, her soaking wet dress clinging to her body like a second skin. She was still drenched and the pages weren't much better.

There was some progress but not very much.

"I'm sure she'll be fine Iffy, this can't be the first time Nep-Nep has washed Iffy," Compa said comfortingly to her. Compa paused and tilted her head to the side. "I think, anyways."

"Not helping, Compa," IF said. She gently prodded Histoire's cheek causing the little oracle to jerk and twitch. Sparks shot out from her body and arched across her body. "Still short circuited."

**~o~**

Neptune started to laugh and scratched the back of her head. "I may have spilled some tea on her book, and then tried to clean it up, but I accidentally used iron wool, and then when I tried to wash her in the bath…" Neptune trailed off. She tilted her head to the side and blinked owlishly, "I didn't know Histy hated baths so much."

"Neptune, books and water are arch enemies, you never put a book in water!" Noire chastised her friend. "You don't even put books _near_ water." The black haired Goddess of Lastation shook her head in disbelief. "I can't believe Histoire is even still alive due to your hair brained antics."

"Well, she did say she was dying whenever I dunked her head under water," Neptune admitted as she tilted her head to the other side. "You think she might have actually been drowning?"

"YES!" Noire roared at her.

"Think… maybe a… souvenir might make her feel better?" Neptune asked hesitantly.

"I'll help you pick it out," Nepgear added.

Noire groaned and palmed her face. "I thought, for a single moment there, that you'd actually become a bit more intelligent when you noticed the fake, but I should have known better."

"Of course not, it's Neptune," Blanc said in a soft voice, having calmed down somewhat, "I almost thought she was an imposter when she attacked the fake Kei. I am now reassured that she truly is Neptune."

"Never mind Neptune's brief flash of insight," Vert said, giving Neptune a once over, "and I mean brief, what are we going to do about this new villain."

"Oh! You mean Spybore," Nepgear said.

Neptune threw her sister a curious look. It was odd that her sister would know stuff that she, the main heroine of this story, would not know.

Noire let out a small gasp. "I remember that name! He was the one that ordered CFW Brave to attack Uni! He's behind everything?"

Wait, even Noire knew!? This was so totally unfair.

"I've never heard of this Spybore," Uni said.

"My companion in ignorance!" Neptune shouted cheerfully sidling up next to Uni.

"Code said some things had changed and Arfoire got replaced as the main villain," Nepgear explained to Uni, "Code was going to get the location of his base from… Pirachu…" the blood sudden drained from Nepgear's face.

"Wait, wasn't Code in those ruins?" Uni asked quickly, her eyes started to widen in worry.

"What's this?" Neptune asked, cutting into the conversation. "Where's my pudding man?" If something happened to her life time supply of NEP pudding, she was going to get very angry.

Uni paled as well. "I ah…"

Nepgear gasped in horror. "Uni! You dropped the ruins on him!"

"Maybe he survived?" Uni said, trying to sound hopeful and failing badly. "I-I mean, he's always been kind of unlucky and stuff, but he's always survived! He survived getting eaten by a Viral Behemoth Prime after all!"

"That sounds distinctly unpleasant," Vert murmured quietly.

"Do I even want to know what a Viral Behemoth Prime is?" Noire asked her sister dryly.

Nepgear and Uni shuddered, "No!" they both said at the same time.

"Think of your worst nightmare, double it up, add Neptune's madness to it, bump it's level to five hundred, give it boss class stats, resistances and immunities, and you might have an approximate idea of what it is," a new, but familiar, voice spoke up.

"Sounds like the ultimate raid boss," Vert said as she cupped her chin in her hands and adopted a thinking pose, "I might want to suggest that to the developers of Goddesses Online."

"If it was in a game, it'd be fine, they're not quite so endearing when you're forced to meet face to face."

"We'd just feed thunder tits to it," Blanc said, "maybe it'd choke on her chest."

"Didn't work," Uni, Nepgear and the new voice said at the same time.

"Hahahaha, you hear that Vert, your tits aren't big enough!" Neptune teased Vert.

Vert shot Neptune an annoyed look. "I'm not sure if I should find that insulting or not."

Nepgear suddenly gasped, her eyes going wide. Her gaze went past Neptune to someone standing behind her. "Goodness, you're back! Code you're…" she trailed off. "Are you alright…? I'm really confused right now."

Neptune and the others turned to the new comer. The man she had met out in the forest was there standing just inside the doors leading out to the balcony. He still wore his dark, skin tight outfit and black open front skirt around his waist but his back and much of his skirt was covered and soot and ash.

The oddest thing of all was the small child in his arms, dressed in a small white dress with brown trimming that was very similar to Blanc's, minus the sleeves. There was even a miniature version of her hat on the child's head. Her hair was of the same cut, but the ends of it turned a deep, vibrant green. She was just as covered in soot and ash as Code was.

And floating just behind him was a young girl with bright blue hair a single brilliant pink eye that matched her pink and white bodysuit. Her blue hair was much longer on the right side than the left, and there was a horrendous scar there. The eye was gone and a deep crevice ran the length of her face.

"So, why exactly did CFW Magic come randomly shooting out of the Basilicom just to explode right in front of my face?" Code asked with a deadpanned expression on his face.

Uni coughed and looked away. "Ah ha… ha… sorry, Code."

"First the ruins… and now this," Code grumbled and shook his head from side to side, sending bits of ash floating away on the air. "Did I do something to upset you that I'm not aware of?" He asked, peering intently at her.

"W-Well maybe you shouldn't have been in the way!" Uni argued hastily.

Code gave her a long, hard look. "Really…"

"Ah don't sweat the small stuff," Neptune said cheerfully as she walked up to the man with the amazing pudding. She patted him on the shoulder and gave him a broad smile. "Now that you're back you can make me pudding!"

"I think there are more important things to talk about right now," Vert said as she eyed the child in Code's arms and the obvious CPU Candidate floating behind him. "Like whom these children are."

"I agree," Noire said, crossing her arms beneath her chest, "Neptune can fill her stomach later."

"But I've been waiting for later to come for days now!" Neptune whined.

"T-That can't be you… can it?" Nepgear asked in wonder as she stared past Code to the CPU Candidate floating behind her.

"Rom!?" Uni gaped. "What happened to your eye?" Rom flinched.

"Hi, Nepgear, Uni," Rom said softly and waved to them shyly, "it's… been a long time."

"What the frickin hell is going on here?" Blanc demanded, pointing an angry finger at the floating CPU Candidate. "How can that be Rom? My Sharicite Crystal was stolen and Rom is back in Lowee! She must be an imposter!"

"Big sis…" Rom's voice was heart breaking as she stared down at the floor, unable to meet Blanc's gaze.

"Really, Blanc, is that any way to treat your little sister?" Vert demanded. "How vulgar, I would never treat my Xone like that."

"Obviously you don't know how to properly nurture the future generation," Noire agreed with Vert.

Neptune nodded her head, she agreed completely. "My sister is from the future and I think that's awesome! You're such a poopy head Blanc."

"Fine, she's not an imposter," Blanc said, looking away in embarrassment.

"If she thinks that's bad…" Code trailed off and shook his head, sending more ash scattering to the winds. He gently set the child in his arms down on the ground. She simply ducked into his skirt and latched onto his pants, refusing to turn around and look at everyone else.

Neptune tried to peer into Code's skirt to get a good look at the child. "Whose kid is that?" she asked.

"Ah… ha…" Neptune gave Code a look. That laugh almost sounded like he was about to break out into tears. "Virtual, come, look, its mommy," Code said gently to the little girl clutching his pant leg.

That caused everyone to freeze on the spot. Breathless anticipating hung in the air as they all waited to figure out just who the mother was. Although Neptune had a pretty good idea who it was based on the clothing alone.

"Mommy?" the little girl asked in a cute little voice. She peaked out from under his skirt. When her eyes landed on Blanc they lit up with joy and a huge smile broke out across her face. "Mommy!" Virtual cried out happily and raced across the room to latch onto Blanc's leg.

Blanc gaped down at the child who was now fiercely hugging her leg and smearing soot and ash all over her skin. "What the fricken hell?!"

"It's a very… well you see… actually I don't really know myself…" Code admitted looking lost and bewildered.

"If Blanc's the mother, who's the father?" Vert asked suspiciously.

All eyes trained on Code who looked like he was sweating bullets and wanted to be anywhere but there right at that moment.

"Code is the father," Rom said softly.

"WHAT?!" Everyone shouted at the same time.

"NEPUU!?" Neptune reared back in surprise. "Code married Blanc and had a kid?! What kind of mad plot twist is this?" He was supposed to be hers! He said he loved her! This wasn't fair at all, and to lose her pudding to Blanc of all people.

"Mommy! Mommy!" Virtual tugged on the hem of Blanc's dress.

"I refuse to accept this!" Blanc shouted angrily and stomped her foot on the tile floor, cracking it slightly.

"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" Virtual became more insistent.

"But you said you loved Neptune!" Nepgear said to Code.

"I do love her!" Code protested, waving his hands before him. "This came as just as much a surprise to me as you."

Noire said as she stared at Code with eyes that screamed _pervert_. "Sleeping with Blanc is not something I can imagine 'coming as a surprise,'"

"Unless it _was_ a surprise!" Vert wiggled her eyebrows suggestively.

"You perverted rapist!" Blanc roared at Code, her eyes blazed red with pure fury as she caught Vert's suggestive meaning. Her huge hammer appeared in her hands. "I'll frickin **murder** **you**!"

"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! MOMMY! MOMMY! **MOMMY**!"

"What?!" Blanc snapped at Virtual, finally losing patience with the incessant calling.

Virtual had a huge smile on her face and held her arms up, raining ash and soot across the floor, "Up!"

"Gurk!" Blanc reared back and looked quickly shot a look around the room. Everyone was giving her an expectant look. "Fine!" Blanc snapped. Tucking her hammer back into her inventory she lifted Virtual up into her arms. The young girl immediately snuggled against Blanc's chest and let out a content sigh, smearing yet more soot and ash across her dress. Despite the mess however, Blanc couldn't seem to be angry at the little girl and she felt her expression soften. "At least she's cute."

"And it seems she has your bipolar disposition," Vert added, "she is most certainly your daughter."

"Oh shut up," Blanc snapped at Vert.

Neptune rounded on Code and shoved her finger in his face. "You're a cheater! You said you loved me! But then you go and have a baby with Blanc! If you won't make me pudding then I'll find a different pudding man!"

Code twitched violently and flailed his arms wildly. "No it's not… I… wait…" He suddenly collapsed to his knees, arching backwards. "GAH! I GIVE UP! I QUIT! WRRRRYYYY!" And then he slammed his face into the tile floor hard enough to crack it. Neptune jumped back as Code seemed to have a complete mental break down, sobbing and screaming as he smashed his face into the floor over and over.

"Way to go, Neptune, you broke another person," Noire said dryly as she and everyone else stared at the wailing man.

"I didn't mean to!" Neptune said as she looked down at Code worriedly. She had really honestly not meant to cause him to break down like this. This looked pretty bad, worse than one of Histoire's breakdowns even. He was smashing his face into the tile floor so hard he was forming a crater, a crater that was rapidly filling up with his tears.

"My goodness! Sis! You need to be gentle with Code!" Nepgear chastised her as she rushed to Code's side and started to rub his shoulder comfortingly. "He's under a lot of stress right now."

"Ah, Virtual is…" Rom poked her fingers together shyly, "a different Code's daughter."

"Why didn't you say that before this huge misunderstanding occurred?" Noire asked with a deadpanned expression.

"So it wasn't my pudding man?" Neptune asked hopefully.

"Sis!" Nepgear snapped at her.

"Yikes!" Even her little sister was angry with her. She didn't think she had done or said anything that bad.

"Rom," Blanc said slowly, the word seemed awkward on her lips. "Since Neptune broke Code, explain to me what's going on."

Rom gripped her hands tightly and held them to her chest. "Ah… well… it started when..."

For the next two hours Rom explained what had happened in the future. From the defeat of Spybore, to the Viral War that came five years after. She followed up with the infection of the CPUs, the nightmare world afterwards, and the desperate gamble to shock Neptune out of her viral state. How Code came back to the future to see if his changes in the past had made a difference and how she and Virtual had been sent back in time with him this time.

After Rom had finished with her explanation, Uni and Nepgear started theirs, adding the differences that they were aware of before they had both met their untimely demise.

No one spoke for a time after Uni and Nepgear wrapped up their stories. Each of them was consumed by their own thoughts on what the future held. The silence was only broken periodically by a particularly large sob from the broken Code.

"Sounds like we have quite the future to avert," Vert finally said after some time had passed, seemingly still lost in deep thought.

"There is nothing Lastation can't do, we'll overcome this Viral War and I won't let Neptune do something as stupid as succumbing to a virus," Noire said proudly.

"Of course not, sis!" Uni beamed at bright smile at her sister. "And I'll be here to help you the whole way!"

Neptune pushed their chatter aside and knelt down in front of Code. She poked the back of his head causing him to twitch. His face was buried into the tile floor and he'd jerk and spasm every time she prodded him. A twinge of guilt and remorse struck her as she noticed the pool of tears gathering around his face. She really hadn't meant to hurt him that badly. It was even worse now that she knew it wasn't this Code that had cheated on her and gone with Blanc but a completely different Code that had done it for the express purpose of trying to help her.

It didn't make her feel particularly good inside.

And technically he didn't even cheat on her since they'd never actually gotten married. According to Rom she'd just joked about it over and over and never actually went through with it. She just played with his heart and ate pudding every day while he kept hoping that someday she'd go through with it.

Even she had to admit that seemed just a little cruel.

"Sis? Are you alright?" There was a concerned look on Nepgear's face. Her own probably looked pretty weird. She didn't really think very often. She didn't like to and often things were simply too complicated for her. It was simply much more fun just to go wild and say and do whatever.

But there wasn't really anything fun about this. Nor was it very complicated.

However, she wasn't sure she wanted to do this. She didn't really know him, even if he did seem like a nice guy and all and according to Rom and Nepgear had suffered multiple levels of hell, all just to save her. There just weren't any feelings between her and him, at least not any romantic feelings. There was just her desire for his pudding, and his complete and absolute devotion to her, as odd as that devotion was. He never had explained to her why he cared so much about her. She _was_ very grateful for what he'd done for her but that was different. At the same time she really wanted that pudding and her sense of fairness just wouldn't let her abuse him that badly for that long. She knew herself well enough to know that she had probably fully intended to go through with the marriage, but had simply put it off to another day due to laziness, but that other day never came because of the Viral War.

Was she going to repeat the future or did she want to change it? She'd heard clearly from Rom what sort of future was in store for them. She wanted to be a part of the solution as well. Going viral seemed like such a downer.

Ah who was she to think things through? This wasn't like her at all! She'd take the plunge and think about consequences later.

Ya, that made her feel a whole lot better.

"Let's do it next week!" Neptune said cheerfully, throwing her best smile at him. Consequences be damned she was going through with this! "I can have Histy sew up a dress for me, and we can find a nice suit for you, and then we can have a grand ol' wedding in Planeptune!"

Code slowly lifted his head from the hole in the floor. His eyes were blank and uncomprehending. "Wha?"

"Marriage, silly, come on, even I know that much," Neptune said cheerfully. "Let's do it like pronto. That way you get your marriage and I get my pudding! It's a win-win!"

"Ah…" he blinked a few times before comprehension suddenly flooded his eyes. "Wait, are you serious?"

"Sis! Do you really want this?" Nepgear asked.

"I know you're stupid Neptune, but this really out does it," Blanc's irritated voice floated to her ears. "Why would you marry someone for pudding?"

Neptune turned and stuck her tongue out at Blanc. "You can only say that because you haven't had any of his pudding!" She turned back to her sister. "And of course I am!" She poked Code in the forehead. "No backing out either. I'm not giving up my pudding!" Neptune declared with certain finality.

"Pudding…" Code sighed and his head drooped a little. Neptune frowned, what was wrong with her proposal? "Well, I suppose it's better than nothing." He said and lifted his head again. He gave her a wan smile. "I can work on your heart later I guess."

"Oh, Code!" Neptune noticed Nepgear's eyes shimmer with tears of joy. Well, her little sister seemed to be happy, which was a bonus for Neptune. And now that a date was set, she'd have to go through with it. She'd get her pudding, and he'd get her and everything would be fine again.

She turned to Blanc and flashed her a victorious grin. "Hah! I stole your husband! His pudding is mine!"

Blanc shot Neptune an annoyed look over Virtual's head. "He's not my husband and I don't give a damn about his pudding," Blanc returned flatly. "You can keep the damn per…" she trailed off. He wasn't a pervert because according to Rom it had actually been her idea. "Frickin damn it this is confusing. Why not thunder tits?!" Blanc demanded, throwing an angry glare at Code.

"Too big," Code said honestly as he tossed Vert's chest a disgusted look which looked very odd considering his eyes were still red from tears. "Way too big." His gaze landed on her own chest and Neptune wanted to fidget nervously for some reason. "Just right." He glanced over at Blanc. "You're not bad either."

The shell shocked expression on Vert's face was absolutely priceless.

"Well, I guess you can't be entirely bad," Blanc amended her opinion of the man, a little. There was a particularly satisfied looking smile on Blanc's lips as she basked in Vert's shell shocked expression. "But I'm not raising this brat all by myself!" She gently patted Virtual's head causing the little girl to let out a few cute little murmurs.

"Don't worry about that Blanc," Neptune waved off Blanc's concern. "Little Virtual is allowed over any time. I'll show her the awesomeness that is Nep Station!"

"No," Blanc said flatly.

"Aww, come on, don't be like that Blanc, we're like sisters now!"

"No, we're not," Blanc flatly refused again. She protectively shielded Virtual from Neptune's sight. "I don't want anyone related to me catching your scatter brained stupidity."

"They can't be too big…" Vert said dully, still shocked over Code's comment.

"Oh get over it," Noire snapped at Vert and turned her attention to Code, "so where is this Spybore creep? Uni said you were pumping that little rodent for information."

Leave it to Noire to bring the topic back on track.

"Oh!" Code straightened and quickly shot to his feet. "I forgot that was the entire reason I came here." Neptune climbed to her feet as well and frowned as a sense of nervousness appeared in her chest. "Spybore is a villain from a different dimension. He's essentially a dimensional destroyer. This'll be his fifteenth if he succeeds."

Blanc scowled at Code. "So what? We'll just smash him to pieces."

"Many others have tried, and failed," Code refuted Blanc. "His level is over five hundred, but his stats are of someone much higher. His attack power isn't too much of a problem, but so long as his guard is up no one can hurt him and his defense is so high no one was able to last long enough to break him before he destroyed them."

"Well then the solution is simple," Neptune said, pushing away for a moment the nervousness she felt inside. "We'll just train our tootsies off until we can pulverize this Spywhore!" Code coughed and choked at that mangled name.

"It's Spybore, sis," Nepgear corrected her older sister.

"Really Neptune?" Noire gave her an exasperated look. "Did you not hear what he said? If he is to be believed, we need some course of action, not just brainless brawn."

Code roughly cleared his throat and waved away Noire's concern. "Neptune's actually right on some level. That's why Rom is here, to help train Blanc, Rom and Ram and bring them up to par. No plan is going to work if you can't break his guard, and to do that you all need to be stronger. Well, except Rom, she's strong enough as she is which is why she'll help train. And Neptune, because of that powerful sword she has now."

The weapon she got from the Viral Child, Neptune wondered how he knew she even had that.

"I'll help sis!" Uni offered.

Code shook his head. "No, the issue of her authority over you will stunt her growth, and I need you to grow as well. I have someone else in mind for the two of you that will guarantee that you'll level quickly. I used that technique on Nepgear earlier."

Nepgear gasped, "you wouldn't!"

Code grinned at Nepgear, "I have the same in store for you and Neptune."

Neptune took the sight of Nepgear curling up into a little ball and whimpering as a very bad sign for what was to come their way. But if it got Nepgear so powerful so quickly, it had to be a good technique right?

"My, surely there's more to your plan than that?" Vert asked, having finally snapped out of her shocked stupor.

"No, that's pretty much it," Code lied to them. They didn't need to know what his ultimate plan really was. It didn't involve them in the slightest. He simply needed their combined levels to be over a thousand and strong enough to break through Spybore's defenses. "I have a sure fire way to ensure that the future Rom told you about never happens, but it requires you all to be at least a certain level. Grinding now is the best way to do it."

"Well, we have two months, might as well make the most of it," Noire said. "If this person of yours can really make me strong enough to destroy the creep that ordered my Uni to be kidnapped, I'll do anything."

"Yes!" Uni agreed fiercely, "I want to reach my former strength so I won't let my sister and Lastation down."

"Please, Uni, you don't have to do this!" Nepgear begged her friend. She sent Code a pleading look, "surely there is some other way!"

"Nope!"

A chill ran up Neptune's spine. That was a spine tingling grin Code had on his lips.

"If you can take it, Nepgear, I can take it," Uni said confidently, "I am only better than you in every way."

Nepgear started to whimper once more.

"I'll be expecting results, Code," Vert said, drawing that name out as if she was hesitant to fully trust Code. "This… trainer you have picked out for Xone and I better be worth it."

He grinned at her. "Trust me."

"NO!" Nepgear, Uni and Rom shouted at the same time.

The grin on Code's face faltered and a nervous sweat drop worked its way down his back.

"Should I be worried?" Vert asked the three CPU Candidates.

"Yes!" the three of them said in unison.

"Ah hah hah hah… ummm…" Code scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Well, there really isn't any other option. You don't have to join us in the fight against Spybore." He slowly captured each of their gazes in his own. "That goes for everyone else. My methods will get you very strong, very quickly, this I promise you." He tilted his head slightly and nodded. "Although I will admit that the methods are a bit… unorthodox and atypical. You're free to bow out of the training at any time. I won't hold it against you. It's just if you're not at least level two-hundred by the end of the next two months, you'll only be dead weight. With the exception of maybe Blanc, none of you will have your strength or intellect high enough to hurt him."

"Well, you're not leaving me out of this." Blanc said, anger flared across her features. "I will make him pay for messing with Lowee." She turned to her the older version of her younger sister. "And you better not slack off," Blanc pointed at Rom with her free hand. "I won't fall behind the others."

"Yes, Blanc," Rom nodded her head quickly.

"So it's all decided!" Neptune said in a sing-song voice. "Code gathers up all his shady co-conspirators, we all meet in Planeptune in a week for our wedding, and then we grind our tootsies off to beat the final villain of the story!"

"I better show up early," Noire shot her a doubting look. "If we left all the planning up to you, the only food that would be served would be pudding."

"What's wrong with that?" Neptune asked. Pudding was a good choice to have at a wedding. Maybe some cake too, and some tea, possibly some cookies as well.

"Xone will take a few days to recover anyways," Vert said reluctantly. "I suppose I could help out as well. I know some great interior decorators that would just love to decorate a wedding."

"You're not leaving me out of this either," Blanc snapped, "Someone needs to write the damn speeches."

"Aww, thanks everyone! This is going to be great!" Neptune flashed everyone a bright smile.

She was feeling a bit better about the whole thing now that everyone was pitching in. But just a little.

* * *

**Note on Revival Protocol**: Every dimension has something different about it. If we consider Hyperdimension Neptunia MK2 as the 'core' universe, Ultradimension, with Plutia, had the unique 'Sharicite discs' that transformed people into CPUs amongst other things, and the first Ultradimension had Celestia, the legendary heroes, and so on and so forth, that neither the other two had. And Hyperdimension Neptunia VII is different still.

The Revival protocol and everything around that is one of my 'unique elements' for this particular dimension. I'm also, at the same time, trying to explain why I think Neptune is the way she is, and why her HDD is completely different from her human form, which is an abnormality as far as the CPUs go. They all experience some change, but not _that_ much. I think Purple Heart is basically what Neptune would be with a fully developed Ego and Super Ego, and that something, or in the case of this story, someone, is preventing that development.


	17. Preparation for the Finale

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hyperdimension Neptunia. All characters, thoughts and ideas that exist in this story that were taken from the original works belong to their creators, Compile Heart and Idea Factory. Only original thoughts and or characters created in this story are my own.**

**Author's Note: **The feedback from the last chapter, while limited, was basically unanimous. No wedding scene. It DOES happen, there's just no scene dedicated to it. Just a quick summary afterwards, buried within a bunch of other character development.

**Chapter 17: Preparation for the Finale**

Night had descended upon Leanbox. The muffled murmurs of the doctor's voices had faded away and the hum of machinery quieted as they went into standby mode. Much of him had already been pulled from her, it was good forethought to wind himself around so many parts of his host otherwise they would have already made it down here to where the core was.

It was time to make his move. He wasn't nearly as large as he wanted to be, barely half the size of a human child, but there was little other recourse. He had two hands to grasp and pull, two feet to walk, a head to perceive his surroundings, and a body to bring it all together in one single cohesive unit. It would be enough for now, it had to be.

Grasping the opening and exit of the place he had called home for the past few hours, he pried it open. He worked his way down that fleshy tunnel beyond, using his hands to grasp at the tiny little folds in the wall to pull him along. Dampness clung to everything and made it difficult to get a good grip, but on the bright side it allowed him to move through more easily. The flesh around him quivered and shook, expanding painfully to accommodate his presence. A thin, fleshy membrane blocked his path at one point but he made short work of it. It bled a little as he tore it down but he was no stranger to blood, especially hers. She would no doubt feel all of this when she woke up, but he had more pressing concerns to worry about than her comfort.

At last his hands breeched the tunnel and he felt cool air beyond. He grabbed the folds at the end of the tunnel and pulled his head through. It was dark beyond, but the air was definitely different here. He kicked his legs as he pushed with all his might and with a wet plop he emerged fully from that fleshy tunnel, flopping down upon a soft bed. Her legs were spread, which thankfully had made his exit much easier on the both of them.

He rolled around on the sheets a couple times to get the majority of the fluids off him before he crawled to the edge of the bed and peered over the edge. It wasn't quite complete darkness in the room. The overhead lights had only been dimmed, not shut off entirely. It allowed him to still make things out beneath the sheets, but just barely.

It was a long drop to the floor but one his body should be able to handle it.

The landing on the hard tile floor was a little jarring to his new body but as predicted it left no lasting damage. The floor was chilly enough to register through the sensor on the bottom of his feet, which was surprising considering it had to be close to freezing for him to even notice.

A quick glance around the dimly lit room confirmed the earlier prediction that he was alone in the room, alone save for her. An idle thought zipped across his mind, that he should go back and end her life before she caused problems for him in the future. He pushed it aside however. He may be a pain loving, blood thirsty, war mongering, and battle hungry insane maniac but even he had a few principles.

He'd never sell out his own mother and that woman came as close to one as he'd ever get.

Of course, all bets were off if they were to meet again in the future. He'd hack her to pieces gleefully then.

He quickly padded across the floor towards the exit. Unsurprisingly the sliding door didn't open on his approach. With a snap of his fingers a small torch appeared on the tips of his index fingers. The flames were hot enough to burn through any metal and made short work of the door. A quick smack with his palm and a small oval door was knocked out of the base of the sliding door.

Poking his head out into the hallway beyond, he glanced in either direction. There was a door ahead of him which led into another room and it was a dead-end to the right. The hallway on the left however was as empty as the room he was in, emptier if one included the woman.

Good, everything was going well. While he might be a badass super villain, right now he was pretty harmless. The flames he emitted from his fingers tips were supposed to be huge infernos, not tiny little spitfires, it was the best he could do at the moment.

He stepped out into the hallway and quickly made his way towards where he thought the elevator was. They had arrived by helicopter and thus had come in from the roof, not the main entrance, which was what he needed. The hallway turned to the right, and then the right again. He passed many doors along the way, some open, others closed, but none that were an elevator, or even a stairwell.

He continued on.

Left. Right. Left. Left. Left. Left. Right. Right. Left. Right.

Confusion clouded his thoughts as he stared at a small hole bored through the base of a sliding door. Beyond was the room he had just left. He had come back to where he had started and he hadn't even noticed. In fact, he hadn't encountered any means of getting off the floor, no elevator and no staircase.

There hadn't even been an intersection. It had simply been one long winding hallway seemingly without end.

"What the hell," he muttered beneath his breath.

The lights went out.

Warning sirens blared in his mind. His instincts, forged into a finely honed weapon in the fires of a thousand battles were all that saved his life. He threw himself back, across the hallway, bouncing roughly off the far door. There was an awful screeching sound accompanied by a cacophony of shattering glass and breaking tile. Wind buffeted his face as something shot past the spot he'd just been standing in.

The lights came on.

The once pristine hallway was pristine no more. There was an enormous gouge down the center of it, going from the floor to the ceiling. It was as if a giant buzz saw had ripped through the hallway.

"Fu fu fu fu fu fu," a maniacal laughter that would make any villain green with envy echoed from everywhere.

If he had any hairs on his body they'd be standing on end right then. As it was, he wasn't about to stand around in a hallway that could conjure buzz saws from nowhere. He turned to run back the way he'd come only to find that there was a wall there now, the same wall that had been there at the start.

A wall that appeared to be melting in places in small, perfectly spherical circles. It was as if incredibly powerful lasers were cutting through it and they all seemed to be angled towards... him…

Nope. Nope. Nope!

The lights went off.

Oh fuck.

Again his finely honed instincts were all that saved his life. He awkwardly dove to the side as a dozen beams of green energy ripped through the wall. His body splayed awkwardly in the air as the he narrowly avoided the beams of deadly energy.

The lights came on.

There was no need to turn around. He knew there would be a dozen holes punched into the walls and floor behind him from the laser beams.

"Run…" a sinister voice seemed to whisper into his ear. It was distinctly female and distinctly unhappy. "Let's see you run!"

He ran.

He sprinted down the hallway as fast as he could, his tiny little arms pumping at his side with each stride. The bend at the end of the hallway went left instead of right for some reason. He didn't slow as he reached it, simply kicking off the wall with his feet to maintain his speed. It didn't matter where it went, just so long as it was away from that crazy hallway.

The lights went off.

A horrible buzzing, grinding sound was the only warning he got. Twisting his body in midair he narrowly avoided something that passed above him. A vortex of wind slammed into him with its passage, slamming his body painfully off the tile floor.

The lights came on.

There was a massive incision in the walls on either side as if a circular saw had cut horizontally across the hallway.

"What the fucking hell kind of hospital is this?!" he shouted as he leapt to his feet and forced his tiny little legs to move faster.

What about all the other patients in the hospital? This was fricking crazy, even by his standards. Wholesale war and destruction was pure and fun. This was not, this was torture, this was CFW Magic's domain, not his.

"Fu fu fu fu," that creepy laughter was back again. "I know _everything_ about my dear Xone." A chill he didn't know he could even experience ran up his spine. How the hell can someone sound more sinister than CFW Magic? "You didn't really think you could hide from _me_, did you?"

That fleshy bitch was seriously giving his former boss, Spybore, a run for his money in sheer creepiness level.

The lights went out.

A loud rumble shook the hospital and the entire floor beneath his feet started to move. Blazing hot fire erupted from his finger tips and he quickly melted a small hole in the floor. He dove in mere moments before the floor and the ceiling came together with a thunderous crash. The rush of wind almost swept him out of his hastily made hole.

Then he felt the floor retract back down.

The lights came on.

He had been right, the floor and ceiling had smashed into each other with steel crushing force. If he hadn't dug himself a hole, he'd need a new body.

"And here I'd thought I'd get a new plate to show off to my darling Vert." She really was insane. The woman had sounded half joking when she talked about turning him into spoons, that insane bitch sounded serious.

"Srcrewssss…"

Another chill ran up his spine. He glanced down the hallway and there, shambling towards him, was a horde of zombies.

"Screwssss…" "Screwssss…"

Metal eating zombies.

Where the hell was she getting all this shit?

He turned around to go back the other way only to find the fleshy insane bitch herself. Her light green hair seemed to float on unseen air currents and her revealing black dress billowed out behind her. Her ruby eyes glowed with a maniacal light and she held an enormous pair of steel shears in her hands, the same ones she had used to destroy his former head. He would have thought her viral if her skin wasn't so pale it looked ghostly. And then there was that sick grin on her face that made even the most horrible of monsters look downright pleasant.

She was slowly striding towards him opening the shears and then snapping them shut quickly with a loud snick.

He was in a death trapped hospital surrounded by metal eating zombies and an insane Oracle with a giant pair of metal shears.

That's it. He was done with this place.

"Screw you bitch, and screw this crazy place!" He roared and jumped into the nearby room. He dashed across the room as quickly as his feet could carry him. The patter of the fleshy bitch's feet behind him urged him to move faster and faster.

As he neared the wall he leapt as high as he could and landed on the window sill. He hit the glass window with his small fist, shattering it and sending pieces skittering across the floor.

He was on the top floor of a forty story hospital. It was a four hundred foot drop to the ground.

And it was still better than staying here. Putting his life into the hands of luck and fate he leapt out the window just as an enormous pair of shears cut through the place where he had just been, taking out a fair portion of the wall and window with it.

"FUCK!"

He was missing his legs, that fleshy bitch had caught him.

CFW Judge turned in midair and shook his fist up at the rapidly disappearing window. "I just built those damn things!"

Impossibly, despite the distance, he could still see her gleaming eyes and sinister smile. Two little metal legs dangled from her grasp.

His legs.

She pulled her arm back.

"You think I'm scared of your wimpy, pathetic frail little arms?" CFW Judge taunted up at the insane fleshy bitch.

Her arm snapped forward.

The sound barrier shattered twice over.

His eyes snapped wide in shock.

The night air above Leanbox was shattered by the sound of two supersonic projectiles slamming into a slightly larger metal object.

A pair of fireworks exploded twenty stories up, just outside Leanbox One Hospital.

**x~X~x**

She felt weak.

But that she felt anything at all was a mystery to her.

Xone slowly opened her eyes. It was difficult, they felt so heavy and she wanted nothing more than to simply close them again and drift off into blissful slumber. But the fact that she could feel anything was too confounding to let her drift off that easily. It was odd to feel the soft bed beneath her, the cool, crisp sheets spread out across her body, the soft, pleasant incense that filled her nose, the hiss and chirp of machines, the low murmur of voices and a dull, throbbing pain between her legs.

The most disturbing feeling was the sense of emptiness that filled her.

If this was death, it was very annoying.

But as the light that filtered through her blurry eyes came into focus she realized this wasn't death or the afterlife. She was in a hospital room, one with incredibly bright walls that really should be painted a softer color, like green or black, even silver would have been nice. There were others in the room with her. Several standard NPC doctors and two others, whom Xone recognized right away.

The first one was Chika, Lady Vert's Oracle. The other one was Lady Vert herself.

Her eyes focused on the only one the mattered. "…Lady Vert?" her voice was barely a whisper, coarse and harsh from disuse.

But it was enough.

Vert was at her side in an instant as if she had teleported there. "Xone! Thank Celestia you're awake."

"…alive?" Xone was confused. She had assumed she was going to die, there wasn't very much of her still functioning by the time Chika had found them and what little was, was only kept going by CFW Judge.

"Leanbox has some of the greatest doctors in Gamindustri," Vert boasted with pride. "Although I have to admit that Neptune did help some."

So that was what was floating above her. She was familiar with most of Leanbox's technology and those bots floating around her bed looked more advanced than anything Leanbox had yet to develop. "…Neptune?"

"Yes, the silly little CPU of Planeptune," Vert paused and frowned, "although I suppose she's not quite so little anymore."

"She's still as silly," Chika sniffed imperiously as she walked over to Vert's side. "There is something really wrong with her. What is up with getting married all of a sudden?"

Xone blinked in surprise. She had to have heard that wrong. "…married?"

Vert's smile became a little lopsided. "My, I'd rather not think about that man. He is equally as crazy up as Neptune." She cupped her breasts and frowned. "He has to be, that's the only explanation."

"Of course it is, only someone as crazy as Neptune would want to marry Neptune," Chika said, hoping to reassure Vert. "And she's only marrying him for his pudding, which he doesn't seem to mind."

He really did sound as screwed up in the head as Neptune. Xone wondered if that meant she'd have two people she'd get to troll in the future. That prospect actually made her look forward to getting better.

"Enough about Neptune," Vert said, officially shelving that conversation thread. She placed a hand on Xone's forehead and peered intently into her eyes. "How are you feeling, Xone? Is there any place that feels off? Planeptune's technology is solid, but sometimes a little weird."

How did she feel? Tired, weak, alive. She felt like she should be dead, and she wasn't. In a way it was like she was reborn, experiencing everything for the first time.

But the feeling that demanded attention, that wouldn't leave her alone: Emptiness.

"…Empty." Xone said after a period of silence. She glanced to her right. "…where?"

The two of them followed her gaze to her side. There wasn't any need to ask for interpretation here. They both knew she was referring to the super villain known as CFW Judge.

"You don't have to worry about him," Chika said firmly. "I won't let that monster ruin my Xone any further."

"Xone, my dear, look, there's something about CFW Judge that you need to know…" Vert trailed off, looking hesitant.

Xone knew where this was going. The pain between her legs couldn't be from anything but what she thought it was. She closed her eyes and sighed. "…I know." She knew her body well, she had to if she wanted to achieve the agility and accuracy that she had. "… Remade himself, inside me?" She had felt him building himself inside her even as she dug her way out. It simply hadn't mattered at the time. She had not expected to survive and there hadn't been anything she could do to stop it.

"You do not have to worry, my darling Xone," Chika said with a broad smile on her face, "I have taught that no good thug his place. He won't be bothering anyone."

"…body?" Xone asked. Curious if they managed to recover the remains of his body.

"Well… no," Chika admitted. "There was a small crater on the street but no body."

"Then he is still alive," Vert said, sounding rather disappointed. "Someone like that wouldn't be done in by something as simple as a short fall."

"…disappointed, if he was," Xone said quietly. "…want new set of spoons."

If he was alive, and she had no doubt someone that tenacious was, there would be a reckoning. And then she would have a fresh set of fancy spoons.

There was a thoughtful look on Chika's face as the green-haired Oracle cupped her chin. "I could use a new platter for tea and biscuits."

"I know a public latrine that needs some patchwork done to it," Vert added, there was a soft smile on her face as she said that. She obviously approved of that line of thought.

It seemed they were all in agreement on how to deal with that super villain the next time they met.

However, for now, what she really wanted to do was sleep. With her curiosity satisfied slumber beckoned her, and its insistent call would not be denied for long.

Vert seemed to notice her inability to stay awake for much longer. Xone felt her fingers softly brush against her cheek. They were warm and comforting, like a mother's touch. It was almost enough to put her right to sleep.

"Rest up Xone, Neptune's wedding is in five days and I'll expect you to be fit to travel in three." There was a pause. "And after that we're going to train, to be strong enough that this can never happen again."

That would be nice.

But for now, all she wanted was sleep. And a moment later that was what she received as her consciousness slipped away into blissful slumber.

**x~X~x**

Blanc glanced around the room as she stepped into her Basilicom. The long, vaulted antechamber appeared empty. There were no random NPCs hoping to speak with their Goddess, no messengers reporting issues, no soldiers walking around, and in particular no Mina and her little sisters. That was good. It would be hard enough to explain Rom's presence at her side, explaining Virtual at the same time would only give her a headache.

Her daughter still clung to her like she never wanted to let go. Blanc still couldn't really wrap her head around the fact that she was a mother, especially since she didn't actually bear this child, but did at the same time. It was a very confusing and complicated situation that she fully intended to make Code suffer for at some point in the very near future.

"Everything is so peaceful."

Blanc glanced at her side where Rom was taking everything in. She had reverted to her human form, but even in that form the horrific facial wound still persisted. Her one blue eye however, was soft as it darted to and fro. It was the warm smile on her face that truly convinced Blanc that this Rom was the same as hers.

Rom was the only person Blanc had ever encountered that could make such a heart melting smile.

"I will keep it this way," Blanc promised her. After shifting Virtual to her other arm so that she could work the blood circulation back into the former, Blanc started down the long vaulted hallway.

With luck she could make it to her room before any of the others…

Laughter picked up from somewhere nearby and Blanc made her feet move faster. She knew that laughter and hoped to make it out of the antechamber before it arrived.

But she should have known better. Gamindustri wasn't that kind to its CPUs, and whenever it could, it made them suffer annoying and embarrassing situations. Before she even made it halfway down the hallway Ram burst out ahead of her from one of the adjoining hallways. There was a happy, cheerful smile on her face and her hair streamed behind her as she ran as fast as her little legs could carry her. And right behind her was Rom with an equally large and happy smile on her face. Their tinkling laughter filled the antechamber.

And trailing behind them was a haggard looking Mina, her long cyan hair messy and unkempt, who looked almost ready to throttle the both of them.

"Blanc!" Ram shouted happily as she noticed her presence. She quickly veered off course and made her way up to her. "Welcome home, Blanc!"

"Welcome home," Rom added shyly as she came up beside her twin sister.

"Hey! Who's the little girl missing an eye that looks like Rom?" Ram demanded, pointing at the Rom beside Blanc. "And what's with the baby?" Ram's loud voice woke Virtual up. The little girl turned her head to peer over her shoulder at the noisy CPU Candidate. She seemed to recognize Rom, but there was confusion in her eyes as she stared at Ram.

"Now Ram, that's rude, I'm sure Blanc has a perfectly reasonable explanation for why someone looking like Rom is beside your older sister, and why she…" Mina trailed off as her eyes landed on Virtual. "Blanc, why do you have a child in your arms?"

"Long story," Blanc sighed and shook her head. "The child's name is Virtual," Blanc laid a hand on Future Rom's shoulder and introduced her to everyone. "Mina, Rom, Ram, this is Rom."

She smiled at Ram and Rom. "Hello Ram, Rom." the future Rom said shyly.

"What?!" Ram shouted in surprise. "But Rom is right here!" She was quick to wrap her little arms around Rom and pull her close.

"Imposter?" Rom asked fearfully.

"I won't let you take Rom's spot! Rom is Rom! And you're not Rom!" Ram snapped at the future Rom.

The battle scarred Rom shook like a leaf in the wind. "No, Rom, I—"

Blanc sighed, "Ram, listen…"

"No! Don't touch me you big meanie imposter!" Ram shied away from the future Rom.

Future Rom flinched like she had been struck by a blow.

That's it, Blanc had enough.

Her eyes went pure red as anger coursed through her system. "Frickin listen damn it!"

"Damn it!" Virtual shouted cheerfully in her arms.

"Now Blanc, you shouldn't be using such vulgar language in front of a child," Mina chastised her.

Blanc twitched irritably but managed to rein in half a dozen choice words she wanted to spit out.

Blanc clenched her teeth and pointed at the Rom beside Ram. "This is Rom," she stated. Her words came out slow and methodical as she did her best to filter out the multitudes of swear words that wanted to arise. She pointed at the Rom beside her. "This is Rom from the future, eight years in the future. The two of you are the same person."

"I don't get it," Rom said, sounding confused.

Ram didn't either, but she had come to a completely different conclusion. "Does this mean I get two Roms to play with?!"

That made the Future Rom and Present Rom smile happily as their thought processes came in line with their twin.

"Uh-huh," both Roms said together.

"Yippee! This is gonna be awesome! Double the Rom! Come on, let's go play hide-and-seek!"

"Ok," they said in unison.

Ram tagged Mina on the leg. "Mina has to find us!" she shouted cheerfully and before either Blanc or Mina could say anything else the three little girls took off in different directions.

"I guess I can let it go, for now," Blanc muttered as she glanced down at the child in her arms. She still needed to deal with Virtual, and she had to write some speeches and stuff for Neptune's wedding. Future Rom had been tense ever since Blanc had first laid eyes on her. Being with Ram again after losing her all those years ago had allowed her to loosen up. She probably needed a few days to unwind before she got into training.

"Three of them, two of them were bad enough. Three is going to be a handful," Mina said with a light shake of her head.

"Four," Blanc said as she gently rubbed Virtual's back. The little girl murmured sleepily.

"So, what's the story behind her?" Mina asked Blanc. "Is she really what she appears to be?"

So Mina was able to recognize her based on her features. Well, now that her heritage was pointed out Blanc had to admit it was pretty damn obvious, especially since she was dressed very similarly to her.

"Long story, we'll talk later," Blanc said. Mina needed to get on finding the twins, or triplets rather, before they became impatient. "Roms and Ram are waiting."

Mina let out a low sigh of resignation. "Yes, I suppose you're right. I will look forward to tonight's explanation," she said, nodding her head slightly, "at least she appears to be past the breast feeding stage."

"Gurk!" That was a damn good thing too. She didn't even know how she would have handled Virtual if she was any younger.

With the way things were going for Blanc, she had to take the small things when they came.

**x~X~x**

"Hey, Iffy, Compa! What's the Histy got cooking?" Neptune asked as she pushed open the balcony doors and stepped inside her Basilicom.

"Compa's not here," IF called out. The brunette appeared from the hallway leading deeper into the Basilicom with a haggard expression on her face. "She went home to rest and then she has to put some time in at the Hospital or they'll fire her. Falcom had to go save a village from rampaging dragons so I imagine she'll be back eventually." IF stopped halfway across the room and shifted her weight to one foot. Placing her hands on her hips she frowned at Neptune. "Nep, where have you been?" She looked past Neptune to Nepgear who was making her way inside as well. "Nepgear too."

"Hehehe!" Neptune grinned proudly at IF, "I got invited to a CPU conference over at Lastation! It's time for the heroine to shine and show everyone what she's made of. There's like this super huge villain that's been causing all of Gamindustri's troubles, or whatever. And we're going to smash him into gooey paste!"

IF stared at Neptune for a time before letting out a long sigh. She glanced past her to Nepgear, "is this true Gear?"

"Yes, we're going after the final boss," Nepgear said.

"Whoa! I got like totally doubted there, that hurts Iffy!"

"NEPTUNE!" Histoire popped up out of nowhere. Her small little body was quivering in anger as she glared at her.

"Yikes! What's wrong Histy?" Neptune asked, poking Histoire's raging body.

"You washed me!" Histoire snapped at her.

"You bet your bookmarks I did!" Neptune said, thrusting her chest out proudly. She patted Histoire on the head and walked past her Oracle to the hallway IF had come from. There was a large stack of papers and reports on her desk but she would rather much ignore those for now. "And now you're Cleanisty! You're so clean we could shave your head and give you a white mustache."

Histoire zipped over to her and placed herself between her and the hallway. A scowl marred her normally frazzled and haggard face. "Half my pages are stuck together!"

"Really?" Neptune asked as she stared intently at the book Histoire was sitting upon. Histoire was right. Neptune could see that some of the pages were stuck to other ones, although it was probably a bit of an exaggeration to say half of them were stuck. "Here, let me help!"

"No!" Histoire wailed as Neptune started to pull on the stuck pages. "Stop! You're gonna tear them."

"I'll be super careful, just like a mother bird with her babies-oops,"

"NOOO!"

"Don't worry about it Histy, I'll get some tape."

Histoire started to panic. "No!"

Neptune shrugged. "If you're sure." She was just trying to help. Her eyes landed on the large stack of papers on her desk. A twinge of guilt ran through her, she probably should try to do some paper work, just to make it up to Histoire. Not to mention she needed to get that all out of the way so she could plan for the wedding. "I should do some work."

Before she had taken two steps a pair of bluish katars were in her face. "Who are you and what did you do to my Nep?!" IF demanded as she pointed a pair of sharp katars at her.

"Whoa, Iffy, what's up with the sudden aggression?" Neptune asked hurriedly, leaning back from the pointy implements of hurt and waving her hands in peace.

"Neptune never wants to do work!" There was deep suspicion in IF's eyes as she stared at Neptune.

"Sure I do!" Neptune paused as she tried to think back to a time when she actually wanted to do work. After a long, pregnant pause Neptune scratched the back of her head started to laugh sheepishly. "I ah… well never mind about what I have or haven't done." She couldn't remember a single time she'd done any actual work without someone pressuring her or some sort of incentive dangled in front of her like a cookie on a stick. "I'm going to be a new, responsible Neptune!" She tried her best to ignore the deadpanned expression on IF's face. IF obviously didn't believe her one bit. A look to the side revealed Nepgear with a doubtful look on her face as well while Histoire simply glared at her.

No one believed her. That was kind of hurtful, but not entirely unexpected.

IF withdrew her katars and pulled them back into her inventory. "Well, if you're actually serious about this then I should probably let you get to it. There's no telling when your attention will wander to something else."

Neptune smiled at IF and patted her on the shoulder. "Thanks Iffy!" she hurried past her friend over to her desk. "I need to get this done before my wedding." After that it's grind, grind, grind for the big final boss fight. There won't be any time to do paper work after that.

IF whirled around to stare at Neptune incredulously. "Wait a minute, what do you mean wedding?" IF demand.

"Sis is getting married," Nepgear said happily.

"Yuppers!" Neptune said as she sat down in her chair. She grabbed the first report and stared at it. Real Estate Inc. wanted to increase the zoning density in a residential section of Planeptune. She tossed that report into the denied pile. "Gonna marry the pudding man, and then I'll have my unlimited life-time supply of pudding!" And she wouldn't have to feel bad about it either.

"But that's ridiculous! Why are you marrying someone for pudding?" IF demanded as she stomped over to her friend.

"It's not just for pudding," Neptune said quietly. She felt oddly calm and for some reason had little appetite for making any jokes at that moment. "That's what I want, and that's what I'll get. But Code, he has done so much for Planeptune, for me, for Nepgear, and for Gamindustri as a whole. And yet, no one has ever done anything for him." Uni, Nepgear, Rom, all three of them were from the future, all three of them vouched for the effort he had put into saving her and Gamindustri. She also saw between the lines of what they had said. She may be naïve, flighty and often said the first thing that popped into to her head, but she wasn't stupid. Not once had they ever mentioned him being rewarded or even praised for his efforts.

And Neptune had personally seen the effort he had put in since. He had saved her life on more than one occasion already and without asking for anything in return. If that didn't deserve some kind of reward, then little did. She would be remiss in her duties as the CPU of Planeptune if she didn't reward him in some way.

After all, both Compa and IF got compensation for helping Planeptune. Compa's studies were all completely paid for and the only reason she still had a job was because Histoire was technically the CEO of the hospital she worked at and wouldn't let them fire her so long as Compa didn't do anything that broke the Code of Conduct. As for IF, she got preferential treatment at the Guild and free access to the best technologies and apps the moment they came out. They also both got complete and unrestricted access to all areas of Planeptune, from the classified R&amp;D departments to the very heart of Planeptune itself, Neptune's Basilicom.

Marrying Code might be a bit much in comparison, but it was the only thing she could give that he even remotely desired.

Her heart wasn't for sale.

She gave IF a small smile. "I'm not marrying him just for the pudding. He deserves something after everything he's been through, and everything he's done. It's my duty as CPU of Planeptune to see that he does, and giving him his one desire, his one wish, is not very hard." Besides, it wasn't like she was getting a lot of proposals or love letters. In fact Code was, thus far, the _only_ person to confess his love for her. Her smile became a lot wider, "of course I also intend to pump him for as much NEP as possible! That's definitely the number one reason."

"It's hard to argue when Nep actually pulls a reasonable argument out of her head," IF lamented with a sigh. IF shook her head and patted Neptune on the shoulder. "Well, it seems you've put more thought into this than just about anything else in your life, so I won't argue your decision anymore." With a flourish IF drew her katars again. "Of course, if he hurts you Nep. I'll send him straight to hell."

"That's my Iffy! Always lookin out for me, or whatever, except when she's not."

"You're not going to complain, Histoire?" IF asked the floating Oracle.

Neptune looked away from the report about increased monster sightings in Powerlevel Island to Histoire, curious about what her silent Oracle would say. Normally Histoire would have popped her top by now over something like this.

The indecipherable expression on Histoire's face confused Neptune, but the expression didn't last long. Histoire simply shook her head and sighed. "I've been with Neptune long enough to know that once she gets like this, there's no changing her mind." Her look became stern after a moment though. "However I won't let your newfound access to this… pudding turn you into a fat, lazy slob. I will insist that you spend two days every week out doing quests and at least two days doing paper work."

That was more like the Histoire she knew. Of course, she would obviously object to those restrictions and do her utmost to sneak out of the Basilicom when Histoire wasn't looking. "What?! What about all my gaming? I have stacks of games I still need to get through!"

"You can game after you finish your work!" Histoire said with some finality

"Nooo!" Neptune wailed in despair.

"It's alright, sis, I'll help out too," Nepgear said comfortingly.

There were stars in Neptune's eyes as she twisted in her chair to beam a smile at her sister. "You're a life saver Nepgear! Histy's being a tyrant again!"

"And Tyrant Histy demands that you get to work!" Histoire said as she came to hover over Neptune's shoulder.

"No problem Tyranisty!" Neptune said as she turned back around to her paper work. "I want to get this all done so I can properly enjoy that pudding without distraction."

"And plan for the wedding," Histoire said, "if the CPU of Planeptune is getting married, it must be suitably extravagant. I won't let this event be something for future generations to mock."

"That too."

"So where is this Code guy you're marrying?" IF asked as she looked around the room curiously like she was expecting the man to pop out at any time.

"Oh, he said he'd be here eventually, said he had to gather his training companions first," Neptune said with a slight wave of her hand. "There's going to be some extreme training after the wedding to get ready for the final boss!"

A shiver of fear and trepidation ran down Nepgear's spine.

**x~X~x**

It was an odd structure, situated in an odd location. It was a large, circular building, red brick, and towered several stories into the sky. The roof was a dome made of light blue energy, like a force field preventing entry or exit. There were other structures jutting off from the main one that contained a variety of facilities from waiting rooms to concession stands, even a five-star hotel for guests to relax in between battles.

The structure was located deep within the bowels of Gamindustri Graveyard, a desolate, barren wasteland of broken machines, dead bodies, and trash that was the result of a hundred years of war between the various nations.

It was a dangerous place, filled with dangerous creations both strange and fantastical. Where even the twisted logic of Gamindustri was twisted even further, and one never knew what one would encounter next. It was a nexus of sorts, a place where all dimensions connected and shared, and yet completely immutable. Only those given wholly to this place could pass between dimensions, but once anchored to this place, one could never leave it. Neither the True Goddess herself nor her nemesis, Virullial, was able to manipulate this place. It had existed since the dawn of creation, and will continue to exist long after creation had ceased.

The place went by one name: The Coliseum.

A place that defied even death, where even the most horrific of wounds were instantly healed the moment battle ended.

Deep within the bowels of this paradise of pain several individuals gathered together in secret. They were brought together by one entity for a singular purpose, even though their desires were different.

That entity grinned at the shadowy forms gathered before him. As this was a secret meeting Gamindustri was taking steps to ensure that the identities of everyone here were properly concealed. Even though everyone individual in this room had a super unique description, only a shadowy outline was visible.

"I'm glad you could all make it here."

"Oooh, your… proposition was just too tasty for me to turn down," the tallest shadowy outline of them all said in an effeminate voice. "I am not usually one for face to face meetings like this though, I'm rather shy."

"Ungh! I wouldn't miss this for the world!" the smallest of the shadowy forms said as he tried to do a pelvic thrust, and failed miserably. "To be able to see my delicious flat chest again, I'd do anything!"

"And you WILL behave, mister!" the second small shadow said as it whapped the first across the back of the head.

"Ow! Mom! Stop that! I gotta look cool here ya know."

She smacked him again, this time with an icepack in her hand. "I'll show you cool!"

"No thanks," the first shadow hastily backed away. "It took me a week to get the ice out of my fur!"

They were a rather motley crew, but they would suffice.

"It really is quite simple, the CPUs and their little sisters all need to be at a certain level by a certain time," the organizer of the event said to the assembled individuals. "There's a powerful threat to Gamindustri, which you are all quite aware of." The three shadow figures nodded their shadowy heads.

The taller of the two had worked for the threat on a contract basis and the two smaller ones were well aware of Spybore's existence on account of their hacker network.

"Just let me at him! I'll murder him myself for laying a hand on my DFC!" the smallest of the shadowy forms boasted arrogantly.

"He'd just undo your hacked character and then eat you," the organizer returned. That was the issue with hacked characters. They were incredibly powerful, but also very vulnerable to hacking a second, third, or any number of times afterwards. What can be done, can also be undone. Spybore would have him unraveled in two seconds and dead within five.

"Which is why we're here, isn't it?" the taller shadowy figure stated.

"Of course," the organizer stated. He stood up from his chair and made his way over to the window looking out into Gamindustri Graveyard. He could see a bit of the dome that covered the center of the structure from his vantage point. "You're not strong enough to really pose them a challenge, not at the levels they need to reach. However this coliseum will, and you will provide them the incentive they need to push themselves harder and faster than ever before." He turned from the window and stared at the smaller figures. "You, I know, will be strong enough to push them yourself. The coliseum will provide you a place where you can fight without fear of permanent injury and where recovery after battle is instantaneous." His gaze shifted to the other small figure. "And I'm relying on you to keep that horny fool under control."

"He knows better than to rebel against me," the second smaller figure snapped at the first. The first small figure flinched back when the second raised her hand as if to hit him again. "Especially after last time."

The organizer of the meeting turned back to the window. The Graveyard stretched on and on, and there was a certain place located near the southwest border that he intended to use. "Just remember, the CPUs and their little sisters are allowed to back out at any time. I won't force anyone into this and they can quit whenever. However they're not allowed to rejoin later. Once they quit, they're done. They're no longer allowed to fight Spybore, and remind them of that whenever they're starting to give up."

Wishy-washy feelings were as bad as being under-leveled. There was no place for hesitation in the battle against Spybore. He'd take advantage of it and destroy you. They were all going to be under-leveled as it was, they couldn't afford to make any mistakes.

"Do you have any more delightful… incentives that I can use for my dear, lovely Noire?" the tall, effeminate shadow asked.

The organizer grinned viciously. "Trust me, you and I. We haven't even begun to scratch the surface of the various costumes _I_ have collected over the last ten millennia."

"Ooooh! I like the sounds of that."

"Yes, it will be glorious," the organizer agreed. "Anyways, the CPU of Planeptune is getting married in four days. I'll be bringing everyone here the following day, so I expect you all to be here and ready."

"Of course, Unf!"

**Whack!**

"I can't wait to see that yummy expression on my dear lovely Noire again."

He smiled. The characters were ready.

Now he just needed to figure out how to deal with the wedding. He had never actually thought Neptune would be serious about going through with it. It was hard to figure out what went on in that head of hers. Sure maybe he had joked about marriage from time to time, but it wasn't really marriage that he desired. It was her heart, although the ceremony gave him a legitimate excuse to be near her at all times.

It was time he returned to Planeptune to get ready.

**x~X~x**

Neptune couldn't sleep as she lay in her bed with the covers pulled up to her chin. She was warm, safe, in a soft bed with a belly full of pudding and other delicious foods. There was nothing to stop her from drifting off to sleep. Nothing save for a myriad of thoughts that tumbled through her mind and emotions that played havoc with her heart. Sure, she was the poster child of restlessness, but this wasn't excess energy that needed to be burned off. This wasn't something she was particularly used to dealing with, and it kept her up long after she should have been sound asleep.

She pulled her arm out from under the covers and lifted her hand above her head. The moonlight that filtered in through her bedroom window glinted softly off the band of platinum. There was a new adornment encircling her ring finger. In a way, that ring was the source of her troubled mind.

Marriage.

That was something she never thought would happen. In fact, it was a thought so far from her mind that it had never crossed it, even in passing. But here she was, married to someone she had only known for a few weeks. She turned her head to the side and regarded the man beside her, the man she was now wed to. He was sleeping peacefully on the other side of the bed, his face half burrowed into the pillow with his legs pulled up to his chest and his arms burrowed beneath the pillows.

There was enough space between them for another person.

That was a source of some of her turmoil.

The man himself and the gap between them.

Neptune sat up in bed and stared down at her body, wondering if there was something wrong with it. She was still in her HDD form from the wedding. It had seemed the most appropriate form to get married in since this was how the public knew her as. As the CPU of Planeptune her marriage could hardly remain a secret, especially with all the preparations that were put into it and the guests that were invited. Perhaps she should have reverted back into her human form after they'd retired for the night.

That might have changed things. But she didn't know if it would have been for the better.

She shook that thought from her head. Slipping her long legs over the side of the bed she stepped onto the warm, carpeted floor of her room. As the covers slid off her naked frame she pulled on a soft purple kimono to ward off the chill of the night. She left it partially undone so it hung loosely around her shoulders and headed for the door. Perhaps if she got something to eat she would feel better. She heard Code turn restlessly behind her as she stepped out of the room but pushed it from her mind. She wouldn't be gone long.

The halls were empty as she made her way towards the kitchen. Noire, Blanc, Vert, and all the CPU Candidates were still here, each had their own room to stay in for the night. The reception had gone on long and no one had any desire to start the journey home so late at night.

The turmoil within still broiled about as she made her way down the empty hallways. There hadn't been anything wrong with the wedding itself, so she knew none of her turmoil stemmed from that in and of itself.

A large hall had been taken over for the event in the city core. There wasn't any place large enough or fitting enough in the Basilicom itself to host the event. That invariably made it a well-known event. She'd been forced to spend a lot of time in her HDD form as she interacted with the regular citizens. Perhaps that was why she was still in the form even now. Whereas before she preferred her human form, now she had no preference.

That was a small piece of the turmoil. That change in her.

Ever since Leanbox there had been small bouts of time when acting like a naïve, childish brat just didn't seem as fun and entertaining as it used to. Those bouts started to come more frequently and stayed around longer ever since her body spontaneously aged. And with it came the worry and the concern that were more often associated with the personality of her older and more mature HDD form.

Perhaps her mind was starting to catch up to her body. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. She enjoyed being silly and stupid, it was certainly better than constantly brooding over everything and being as gloomy as Noire. But sometimes being silly just wasn't didn't feel appropriate.

She stopped as she reached the game room where the four of them, Noire, Vert, Blanc and herself had spent gaming until just a few hours ago. After the reception was done everyone had retired to the Basilicom but no one was really ready to sleep. Neptune smiled lightly as phantom images of herself and others formed around the console system and the controllers in front of the large screen. They'd all been in their HDD forms and that had made the game a bit more competitive than normal. The console system currently on the floor wasn't the same one that had been there at the start of the night, or even the second one. They'd gone through several due to Blanc's anger. There were small dents in the walls where more than a few controllers had been smashed against it.

And even now she could still feel the breath of wind as something sharp and pointy shot past her ear while she was playing or buttons on her controller would randomly press screwing up her combos.

Any time Neptune tried to catch Xone in the act, and she was certain it was Xone, she'd appear completely innocent and at ease, chatting away with Nepgear and the other CPU Candidates. Phantom images of those six formed not far from the first set. Nep Jr., Uni, Xone, Ram, Rom and Rom, all sitting around laughing happily together as they played a six-player cooperative game on the Nepgear, a handheld console system named after her little sister.

How she had managed to get a console system out so quickly, Neptune would never know, but she had.

Neptune let a small smile spread across her lips. There had been nothing wrong with that, perfectly normal and lively.

The phantom images faded away. Code had not been there. He and Histoire had gone off somewhere to talk, most likely Histoire was laying down some ground rules that Code had to obey or else. She hadn't seen him again until it was time to retire for the night.

Histoire had been very accepting of Code the first time they met, something that had come as a pleasant surprise. Neptune had been slightly worried about that considering her meltdown when Neptune had first talked about him.

Turning from the gaming room she headed down the hallway once more. The wedding had been a massive whirlwind of activities. Noire had arrived way before anyone else, bringing with her an army of chefs and waiters. She had taken control of the reception hall, decorating it to suite her taste. It had taken on a very industrial, steampunk theme, and the food had been of similar style. The food was good, Noire's chefs knew what they were doing, but Neptune had noted there was a distinct lack of pudding on the menu.

That was a bit of the turmoil now that Neptune thought about it. Her precious pudding had been relegated to a third tier desert. That had been insulting.

Vert had arrived a day later, arriving in style with a line of vehicles and escorts a mile long behind her. The wedding hall had been decorated in record time, all in Leanbox's colors and theme. Everything was green and white, with some black edging and details here and there. Elegant, but definitely not styled after Planeptune.

Blanc had been the last to arrive, having to come the further than the rest of them and having to deal with Rom and Ram who easily got bored. The musical scores Blanc had chosen for the background music of the wedding were beautiful and fitting, but they were definitely colored by Lowee.

Virtual had played the role of flower girl. She had been absolutely adorable as she skipped happily down the aisle while scattering sakura petals to the wind. Well, at least until she saw her father, dumped the flowers and raced the rest of the way to his side. She'd latched onto his leg and hadn't let go until after the ceremony.

The turmoil inside her stirred a little. That was another piece of it. Neptune had to admit, at least to herself, that Blanc having Virtual as a daughter made her more than a little jealous. Virtual was just too adorable.

By the end of it, the only part about the wedding that had any Planeptune theme about it had been her own wedding kimono, and the one Code had worn. It was the very same one she wore now, albeit with a few more accessories that she hadn't bothered to equip for a quick trip to the kitchen for a bite to eat.

When she entered the kitchen she found she wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep. Nepgear was there as well, boiling some water for some green tea. She looked as if she had gone to sleep, couldn't fall asleep, and had gotten up again. Her hair was slightly frazzled and she wasn't wearing her normal schoolgirl outfit, but rather a light chemise meant for sleeping.

Her little sister glanced tiredly towards her and jumped in surprise when her eyes landed on Neptune.

"Sis! What are you still doing awake?" Neptune could hear the concern in her voice and see the concern in her eyes. "You're still in HDD, is something wrong?"

"Perhaps," Neptune said softly. She made her way past her sister to the fridge. Opening it up she found another source of turmoil. Inside it were four dozen NEP puddings that Code had made just for her. A wedding present of sorts.

Neptune would normally be overjoyed by receiving so much pudding, indeed she had devoured two of them on the spot and they had been even better than that first taste she'd had, but what worried her was the amount. Why did he make so much for her? They were going to be together for quite some time and pudding tasted better fresh. There wasn't any reason to make such a large amount all at once. By itself she could have ignored it, but he had been acting strangely recently.

"Is it about Code?" Nepgear asked curiously. She turned the kettle off as it started to whistle and poured the hot water into a mug with the green tea leaves. "I know he can be a bit odd at times, but he's really a nice guy."

It really was him that everything revolved around. All her worries and concerns.

She still remembered the sad expression on his face as the two of them stood side-by-side before the doors to the grand hall where they were to be wed. His eyes had been pained and the smile on his face almost broke her heart.

But it was his words that stuck with her.

…_you don't have to go through with this, Neptune. I heard what Rom said as well as you and I can guess what went on in your head, and I can say this now, it wasn't just your fault. The future me could have forced the issue easily enough, if the wedding was what I wanted. But it's not. Marriage is simply a symbol of what I really want…_

Neptune placed a hand on her chest, over her heart where he had touched her. As naïve and oblivious as she was sometimes, there was nothing subtle about that. He loved her, and simply wanted the same in return. That was all.

And it was the one thing she couldn't give him.

The spot still burned a little, as if reminding her of how shallow she had been. She had married him to assuage her own guilt for having done nothing for him and to give her an excuse to use him to supply her with a limitless supply of pudding.

He hadn't said anything more on the topic after that and the wedding went off without a hitch. Despite his words, she still had to go through with the wedding. It was rather too late to stop it. She'd never be able to live down the teasing and humiliation from the others if she did. Not to mention how it would look in the eyes of the public. A whirlwind wedding that ended before it even began? That wouldn't look good on the CPU of Planeptune, and it would most certainly have a negative impact on her shares.

And forget ever getting married in the future. That would never happen.

"He never really wanted to be married," Neptune said softly as she closed the fridge. Just looking at the pudding reminded her of him and that simply caused her chest to hurt.

"I know," Nepgear said. She lifted her mug of tea to her mouth and took a small sip. "But you can be dense sometimes, sis. Without this you'd… probably always keep him at arm's length."

"We still are," Neptune said quietly. She eyed Nepgear's green tea. That looked like a good option right now. "You and I, we both read up on weddings and marriage and everything that's supposed to happen afterwards." She made her way across the kitchen to her sister's side, who eyed her curiously the whole way. "He never touched me. Not once. I honestly expected…" she didn't know what to expect really. The whole situation was new and strange to her. But she did know that after the marriage ceremony came the honey moon which generally included a lot of intimate physical interaction.

There hadn't been any. He'd simply kissed her on the forehead and bid her goodnight with the same sad smile and pain filled eyes from the ceremony.

"Code… has always been odd, but also very stubborn about certain things," Nepgear said, her eyes glazed over as if remembering something from her past, and Neptune's future. "Maybe he's just waiting for you to see it as something more than simply your duty?" She shrugged her shoulders as if she wasn't entirely sure of her own words.

"Maybe." That would be nice if that was the case and it was very possible that it was part of the reason, but Neptune had a hunch that there was something else that was holding him back. Something deeper.

She grabbed the tea kettle and poured herself a cup of hot water. A few tea leaves followed soon after and she took a stir stick to the tea to mix it all together. "But if he's unwilling to be intimate with me, it does sort of feel like I've still lost to Blanc." He had slept with her easily enough, or so it had sounded anyways. She really wasn't in any rush to have children, or had any real desire to be intimate, but the fact that Blanc of all people had gotten there ahead of her irked her more than she was willing to admit.

Nepgear laughed, "I don't think that really counts, sis." She took another sip of her tea and stared at the leaves in the bottom of the mug. "But Virtual is really cute. I wouldn't mind a little niece to play with if she was that adorable."

A wry smile came unbidden to Neptune's lips, "I'll keep that in mind." She took a small sip of the green tea. The aroma and soothing taste did wonders to calm her mind and her nerves. She hadn't realized just how agitated she felt until just then.

She thought back on what Virtual's existence meant. None of them had any idea if they could even bear children, on account of them being CPUs with their transformations and all, and none of them were in any particular rush to find out. However Virtual was proof that it was possible.

"I don't think you need to rush, sis," Nepgear said. Her sister finished off her tea and set the mug into the sink. Nepgear gave her a reassuring smile. "He's not going to go anywhere. I've known him for longer than you, I know he'll rub off on you soon enough."

"If you think that's for the best." It made her feel a little better, but only a little. There was still that odd feeling that Nepgear was wrong about him not going anywhere soon. "I just hope you're right about him always being around."

"What do you mean?" Nepgear sounded confused.

"I don't know," Neptune took another sip of her green tea. It did little to ease the unpleasant feeling bubbling inside. "His actions aren't those of someone who expects to survive the battle against…" she paled a little. Could that be the reason?

"He'll be fine," Nepgear tried to reassure her again with her best smile. "Code is tough and incredibly unlucky, too unlucky to die from things that most people would be better off just dying from. If any of us has a chance to survive the upcoming battle, it's him."

"That's a rather backhanded compliment," Neptune said dryly. "I didn't really expect to hear that from you."

Nepgear looked a little guilty at that comment. "He's rubbed off on me a little," she admitted sheepishly.

Neptune smiled at her sister and rubbed her shoulder. "It's alright." She finished off her green tea and set the mug down beside Nepgear's in the sink. "Get some rest, Nep Jr., I expect Code will have some intense training for us starting tomorrow.

She felt Nepgear shudder beneath her grasp. "Oh Goodness, I was trying to forget that." Nepgear whined a little. "He does, he really does. At least you're married to him so it won't be so bad for you."

"Are his training methods difficult?" Neptune asked in concern.

"No, they're fine, it's the punishment and incentives he has for pushing us to train harder that's the issue," Nepgear whispered.

"They can't be that bad."

Nepgear gave her a wan smile. "You'll find out tomorrow." She looked away from her, towards the hallway. "But you're right, sis, I really should get some sleep."

"Sleep well, Nep Jr." Neptune bid her sister goodnight and watched as her sibling made her way from the kitchen and back to her room.

She should probably do the same. She gave the kitchen one last look over to make sure everything was turned off before she hit the light switch and headed back to her own room. The room she now shared with Code.

The turmoil inside her was still there, but she had a better grasp on what the root issue was. They weren't unsolvable problems. She'd just have to see to it that Code survived the upcoming battle so that she could work these issues out of her system.

It didn't take her long to walk back to her room, the kitchen wasn't very far away. And soon enough she was climbing back into bed. Before she could lay down, a soft whimper drew her attention to the person beside her. She turned to her new husband. Concern wormed its way into her heart as she saw tears stream down his cheeks, glistening in the soft moonlight.

He seemed to be having a nightmare, or was in pain, maybe even both. Whatever it was, he wasn't sleeping particularly well.

"Code?" Neptune whispered quietly. She wanted to wake him up to spare him whatever nightmare he was having but she also wanted him to sleep longer. He was going to be in charge of their training and he needed to be at his best, they all did.

He didn't awaken at her call. Instead he shuddered as if in pain and a fresh set of tears slid down his cheeks.

Neptune hesitantly reached out and touched his cheek. The change in his disposition was instant. His face relaxed, the whimpers quieted, and the tears ebbed. Another pang of pain struck her heart. He could sense her touch even in deep slumber. How much did he care for her?

She closed the gap between the two of them. They were married now, so they should be sleeping side-by-side, not on opposite sides of a giant bed. She gently cupped his head in her hands and nestled his face in her bosom. The reaction was even more telling this time. All his stress seemed to drain from his body as he relaxed in her embrace. His arms unconsciously came up around her back and hugged her gently.

The turmoil inside her ebbed a little and Neptune felt for the first time that night that she could actually get some sleep. Holding Code to her chest she rested her chin on the top of his head and drifted off to sleep.

* * *

**Author's Note:** Only 2 more updates after this and the story is finished. I'll be posting the Epilogue along with the final chapter.


	18. The Coliseum

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hyperdimension Neptunia. All characters, thoughts and ideas that exist in this story that were taken from the original works belong to their creators, Compile Heart and Idea Factory. Only original thoughts and or characters created in this story are my own.**

**Chapter 18: The Coliseum**

"Well, this is certainly an interesting location," Vert murmured softly, echoing the sentiments of the others gathered before the large structure.

They were all there, the four CPUs and all the CPU Candidates. IF, Compa and Falcom had tagged along as well and even Virtual was there. Mina refused to take care of the child for two months straight and had demanded that Blanc be a responsible parent. The child was currently clinging to Blanc's back, her little arms wrapped around her neck, peeking over her shoulder at the large structure before them.

The coliseum was a place that Neptune had heard of at times over the past few centuries but never had any desire, or real need, to visit. She certainly hadn't expected the large red brick structure with its blue dome roof to be located within the depths of Gamindustri Graveyard. She had led armies through this area in the past to do battle with Lastation, Lowee and Leanbox, but she'd never encountered this structure before.

Of course, considering the size of the zone and how maze like it was, that wasn't exactly surprising. The coliseum was tucked away in a small cul-de-sac that was a fair way off any of the main beaten paths and battlefields in the graveyard. One would almost have to accidentally get here after getting lost to find the place.

"It's the coliseum," Code explained to them. The man leaned against the brick wall beside the large arched double door entryway. The doors were made out of wrought iron and had fantastical beings carved upon its surface, some of which even looked like CPUs, but that couldn't be right. "The Gamindustri Graveyard is a place where everything that is rejected by Gamindustri ends up. And the Coliseum is where the greatest and most powerful of those rejected entities reside."

Noire crossed her arms beneath her breasts and stared at the wrought iron doors. "So we're going to fight strong bosses for the next two months?"

"That doesn't seem so bad!" Neptune said cheerfully. She was in her human form at that time, as was all the others. It was best to save their energy for the boss fights as staying in HDD for long periods of time did come with a slight drain. "Just let me at em and I'll whack em till they drop their credits and exp!"

Code stared at Neptune for a moment and then smirked, sending a sudden chill racing up her spine and alarm bells to go off in her mind. "I didn't use the Coliseum to power level Nepgear."

"Then why are we fric—" Blanc bit her tongue to stop from cursing, shooting a quick look at Virtual who was peering back at her. "Then what is this for?" Blanc said more calmly, gesturing to the large structure before them.

"The coliseum will hide our activities from prying eyes," Code stated easily. He pushed himself off the wall and walked over to the door. He laid a hand on a rather odd carving in the door. "Plus you can't die in the Coliseum, and you're healed after every battle. Both of which will be very handy for what is to come." He glanced over his shoulder at them, "and Noire and Uni will actually be fighting the bosses in here, the rest of you have other trainers." His eyes rested on the future Rom who seemed to shrink at the sudden attention.

"Does that include us as well?" IF asked as she gestured to herself, Falcom and Compa.

Code shook his head. "No. To be honest I hadn't really factored you into the party." IF scowled at him. "But I'm not saying you can't help, just that… oh nevermind. Spybore is sure to have viral monsters protecting him. If you train here for a while you'll probably get strong enough to at least clear a path for Neptune and the others."

"Doesn't seem like a particularly hard job," Falcom said as she eyed the coliseum. "Too bad Neverlan, Otome and Mate are still out on that quest of theirs. I know at least Mate would love this place."

IF placed a hand on Falcom's shoulder and squeezed it. "We can visit this place again once they're back."

"Well I'm not being left behind!" Compa said fiercely. "Where Iffy and Nep-Nep and Ge-Ge go, I'll go too!"

Cod shrugged. "Fair enough."

Neptune walked up to Code's side and placed a hand on the other door. "Well then let's get this show on the road! It's time to grind for the final boss fight!" Without waiting for anyone else she pushed the doors opened and marched inside.

Instantly Neptune felt like she was in another place and another time. As if she was no longer in Gamindustri anymore. Or rather, that it wasn't just _her_ Gamindustri. The air was different, sharp, crisp and electric. As if there was tangible energy running through it, but she couldn't see anything. Everything was much different as well. Gone were the standard red bricks on the outside, everything in here looked futuristic.

It was very similar to those dimensional zones that dotted Gamindustri, but the color scheme was more muted, and there was a feeling of vastness to the Coliseum that those other zones just couldn't mimic.

"What an odd feeling," Vert murmured as she filed in behind Neptune.

"Creepy is more like it," Noire added as glanced down the hallway. "Like what is up with this place?"

"Oh stop your bitching," Blanc snapped at her fellow CPUs.

"Bitching!" Virtual said cheerfully.

"Urk!" That was Blanc and Neptune laughed at the constipated expression on her face.

"Haha, Virtual is picking up Blanc's bad words," Ram said cheerfully.

"Bad Blanc," Rom said softly.

"Hehe! Blanc's getting lectured by her little sisters!" Neptune teased Blanc mercilessly. The CPU of Lowee just glared daggers at Neptune. She couldn't open her mouth lest she unleash more words she didn't want Virtual to pick up and imitate.

Virtual pointed at Neptune over Blanc's shoulder. "Bitch?"

"Gack! What are you teaching her Blanc?"

Virtual started to sing. "Bitch, bitch, bitch, bitch."

"My, it seems Blanc is a rather poor choice for a parent, I think you may have made a mistake choosing that one," Vert said to Code who had his face in his palms.

Blanc whirled around and pointed a shaking finger at Vert. "I was not a mistake!"

"…right spirit, wrong application." Xone said softly.

Code sighed and walked over to Blanc and Virtual. The little girl stopped singing and smiled up at him. He rubbed Virtual's head and the little girl giggled and leaned into the rub. "Virtual, Neptune isn't a bitch, she's just stupid, sometimes."

"Wait! That's not any better," Neptune protested. Even her husband was getting in on the jabs, this wasn't fair! It was making her chest feel uncomfortable.

"Ohhhh." Her little eyes lit as understanding dawned in them. "Neppy is stupid," Virtual said in her small little voice. She turned to Neptune and smiled. "Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid." She began to sing once more.

"You're not helping," Blanc said as she turned around to shoot Code an annoyed look. She grabbed Virtual by the scruff of her neck and pulled her around front. The little girl was still singing. "Stop that."

She stopped and smiled at Blanc cutely. "Yes mommy." Blanc twitched. She still wasn't used to being called that.

Code appeared in front of Neptune. He placed his hands on her shoulders and turned her around to face further into the Coliseum. "This way. We shouldn't waste any more time. It took the better part of the morning just to get here."

Neptune let him guide her down the glowing, metallic looking hallway. He knew where they were going better than her anyways, not that she'd seen any doors or side passageways since entering the coliseum.

"I won't lose to Blanc," she said quietly so that only Code could hear her. He gave her a confused look but she didn't expand upon it. She wasn't going to let that unpleasant, hollow feeling inside get any worse.

It didn't take them long to reach their destination, or what Neptune assumed to be their destination. The long, straight hallway without doors, windows, or splits, opened up into a large, voluminous chamber. A semi-transparent bridge made out of raw, blue energy, arched from the end of the hallway to an enormous circular platform in the center of the room. Shooting off in all directions from the large central platform were dozens, if not hundreds, of other bridges. Some stopped at hallways that led into other parts of the facility, but most ended at another, smaller, floating platform with a closed door in the center.

"This is it, the Nexus of the Coliseum," Code said to her and the others as he guided her across the glowing bridge. "This is where we'll basically live for the next two months. One of the bridges does lead to a five-star hotel complete with several luxurious restaurants, but only those that break level one hundred are allowed to stay and dine there."

That caused more than a few of them to raise their voices in protest, especially Rom and Ram who were only level one.

But Noire was the most vocal of them all. "Where the hell are we supposed to stay in the mean time?"

Code shrugged. "Out here, I guess, I brought a few tents. Nepgear and Uni are already over one hundred, as is Future Rom, so they can stay there tonight if they wish." That caused more people to protest angrily. Neptune would have as well, if she wasn't on the cusp of breaking a hundred herself. A day of training and she should be over one hundred as well. "And no, it's got nothing to do with me being a tyrant." That had been Ram that had called him that. "That's actually the rules of this place. I have nothing to do with that bit, really." Code finished.

He stopped her as they reached the center of the large, circular platform. Much to her annoyance he stepped away from her and approached what appeared to be a set of circular trap doors in the floor. There were eight in all, two in each 'corner' of the circle, forming a square.

"So where are these trainers of ours?" Noire demanded.

"In a second," Code said as he turned his attention to Blanc and her little sisters. "Blanc, Future Rom, that place has already be reserved for you." He pointed to a particular door on a smaller platform. "There are no bosses in that one, it's empty. Once there Rom can put you through your paces."

"Why do we have to train anyways?" Ram demanded as she stomped her foot loudly on the platform. "There's like twenty bajillion of us anyways, just let us play games. We can't even transform like the rest of you!"

"I like games…" Rom said quietly.

"Well you see…" Code started, but the most unlikely of person interrupted him in the most unlikely of ways.

Future Rom hit Ram. It was only a light bonk on the head, but it was a telling difference between the two Roms. Ram rounded on Rom ready to berate her but the pain in Future Rom's eyes caused the words to die in her mouth.

"Ram… you asked, why sis isn't here. Why only Rom came back…" Nepgear and Uni both looked away but not before Neptune noticed their eyes shimmering with unshed tears. Rom too, started to tear up, as if remembering a painful memory. Rom was suddenly engulfed in a pink and white pillar of light as she activated her HDD form. When the light died down Rom floated before them in her HDD form with her vibrate blue hair and pink eyes. The most telling thing of all, were the _two_ staves in her hands. "Ram… I… we were too weak. We could not… save Leggo Island. The screams, the fire, the endless waves… of monsters." Rom seemed to choke up and Blanc made as if to go to her side but stopped when Rom regained her composure. "They wouldn't stop… we couldn't stop them… the people, needed time to run."

Ram seemed to be taken aback by the display before her. "R-Rom… what?"

"Nepgear… Uni… we guided the people away. But sis… stayed behind." Tears started to stream down Rom's face. Her grip on the left stave tightened enough to cause it to creak ominously. "Sis… died."

"What?! You never mentioned that before!" Blanc shouted at Rom.

"It was obvious enough, Blanc," Vert said. She appeared calm but the white knuckle grip she had on Xone's shoulder bespoke of something else. "Ram was never mentioned again after they described the incident at Leggo Island."

Noire nodded her head, "I thought you already figured that out."

Neptune kept silent. She was normally the one ousted as the dumb one. Of course she didn't catch it either, but it was probably better to keep that fact to herself.

"Ram… I…" A gut tearing sob was ripped from her throat. Her body flashed brightly, the blue hair became pink and the pink eyes became blue. "I won't let that happen again!" Rom shouted angrily surprising them all with her sudden change in demeanor. "Stupid Ram! I won't let you stupidly die again. Nepgear, Rom, Uni and I, we're going to have fun and play lots after this silly war is over." She bonked Ram over the head with the staff that used to belong to Ram. "Stupid Ram! We're gonna get strong. So strong that we won't ever get eaten alive again!"

Blanc choked and many others reacted just as badly.

"Oh my…" Vert gasped lightly, she sounded horrified and Neptune knew she probably looked just as bad as Vert sounded. The others didn't look any better than she did. Nepgear and Uni looked the worst. Neptune couldn't even describe the painful expressions on their faces.

They had actually lived through all that.

They were the ones that had left Ram behind.

She had stayed behind to cover their retreat because they'd been too weak to stop the attack. And she had been eaten. That was what this Rom turned Ram had said. Neptune couldn't even begin to imagine such a horrible fate. It made her sick to her stomach just thinking about it. She was kind of glad she didn't have any pudding this morning. It would be a waste if it came back up again.

"Getting eaten is probably one of the worst ways to die," Code said sadly. "I at least I got lucky enough to be swallowed hole. Ram though…" he looked away with a painful expression on his face.

"F-Fine…" Ram stuttered. She looked almost sick to her stomach. "I guess I can do this silly training."

"Lots of training!" Rom turned Ram said and bonked Ram on the head with the staff again. "We're going to train until we're stronger than big sis!" She bonked her again.

"Ow! Stop! Fine, geez, alright! I get it!" Ram complained, holding her head painfully as small little lumps threatened to comically rise up.

Rom turned Ram flashed brilliantly again and she was back to Rom with her blue hair and pink eyes. "Ram… Rom… let's live."

"I said fine, geez," Ram grumbled.

"Uh-huh," Rom agreed eagerly. "I… don't want to lose… Ram."

Ram hugged Rom tightly and rubbed her cheek against her sister's. "I'm not going anywhere you big dummy."

"You'll have to work hard if you want to get stronger than me," Blanc said as she started for the bridge leading to the door Code had indicated. "I'm not going to laze around and let my little sisters do all the work." Blanc shot her a look. "I'm not Neptune."

That was a low blow, even if it was probably true. "Hah! How about a bet then!" Neptune suggested with a wide grin on her face. "Whichever team is the weakest after the end of the two months has to do whatever the strongest team says!" She raced over to Nepgear's side and pulled her younger sister into an embrace. She ignored Nepgear's sudden and surprised shout. "Me and Nep Jr. will easily beat the rest of you!"

Blanc shook her head, "no. Nepgear is already over level one hundred, as is Uni."

"Then how about we don't do it based on levels, but rather raw number of experience points earned," Vert suggested, taking a step forward past Xone. "This is how we do it in my guild in Four Goddesses Online whenever we have power leveling contests."

"I don't like that idea as much," Neptune said. There went her advantage.

"Why not? I think it is perfectly fair," Vert argued.

"I agree," Noire chimed in, "it is the only way to have a fair, and level playing field."

"We'll show you who the best is," Blanc said softly. There was a satisfied look on her face now. "Rom, Rom, and Ram, come, let us begin while the others are still sorting things out."

"Wait! That's like so totally not fair," Neptune shouted at Blanc. Not only was her idea shot down, but Blanc was getting a head start on her. And there were three of them to everyone else's two! They so totally had the advantage here.

Blanc stopped when she reached the smaller platform and turned to regard Neptune. There was a small, satisfied smile on her lips. "Who was it that suggested the competition be based on levels when their combined levels were already the highest?"

That was her, but she was the main heroine! She was allowed to cheat and stuff. It was written in the hero contract, or at least it should be. She'd go over it again once she got back to the Basilicom just to be sure.

Blanc was gone by the time Neptune found a way to retort, disappearing through the door on the platform, taking little Virtual with her. Her three little sisters followed after.

Noire whirled on Code once the door closed behind Blanc and her little sisters. "Well, where are our trainers?" Noire demanded with her hands on her hips. "I'm not going to let Blanc get a head start on me and Uni."

"The same goes for myself and Xone."

Code clapped his hands twice and one of the circular holes near him opened up. The cover split into four triangles and retracted back into the floor. A soft buzzing noise picked up, like the sounds of a rapidly vibrating wings or a fan. A metal platform rose up from the depths of that hole, an elevator, and carried with it were two small, diminutive figures.

"EEP!" Xone squeaked and shot behind Vert, her body was trembling in fear.

Vert stood protectively in front of Xone. There was a fierce expression on her face as she glared daggers at the larger of the two individuals.

"Awww… look at the cute fluffy little rabbits," Compa gushed as the two rabbits came into full view.

"These are the trainers you cooked up for Vert and her little sister?" IF asked. There was an incredulous look on her face as she stared at the two rabbits.

Neptune recognized the first rabbit immediately. After all, it had kicked her ass rather thoroughly back in Leanbox. "Watch out Iffy! I said the same thing and then he beat the stuffing out of Vert and Xone!"

"And who was it that rushed in headlong alone into battle and was promptly cratered into the wall beside the entrance?" Vert asked, learning forward to peer intently at Neptune.

"Ah, you?"

Vert opened her mouth to protest but the words died in her throat. She had been cratered into the wall beside the entrance just like Neptune had, and probably for much the same reason.

"They may not look like much," Falcom said as she eyed the two of them carefully, "but I can sense an incredible amount of power coming from them."

The larger of the two rabbits stood on his hind legs and crossed his arms across his chest. "I am the ultimate pimp master, Mr. Rabbit, and I'm here to whip you into shape!" He declared loudly as he puffed his chest out.

**WHACK!**

"Ow! Mom! Not in front of the girls!"

"Shut it young man! Pimp master, HAH! You can't even catch your own tail let alone someone else's." The second rabbit gave Vert an apologetic smile, "I must apologize for my son, Lady Green Heart. He's generally a good kid, when he's not letting his dick do the talking. I'll make sure to keep him in line."

"It seems you two are already acquainted with your trainers," Code said with a grin that said he already knew that that they were acquainted with them.

"We are," Vert said without glancing at Code. Her heated glare was fixated on Mr. Rabbit. "That little creature caused all sorts of problems back in Leanbox."

"…tried to rape…" Xone shivered in revulsion.

"Well he won't try anything perverted this time, I promise you," The Mom said as she swatted her son a second time. "Am I clear?"

"Yes! Yes! Just stop making me not look cool in front of the girls!" Mr. Rabbit complained.

"Hehehe, I'm glad I'm not Vert and Xone right now," Neptune said, laughing a little. "I'm not sure I could survive the humiliation of getting my butt beaten by bunnies."

Noire had a deadpanned expression on her face. "Now I really know that the two of you are the perfect couple. How is a pair of rabbits supposed to help them train?"

"Well this guy here," Code pointed at Mr. Rabbit, "is level nine hundred and ninety nine."

"WHAT?!" She wasn't the only one to shout in surprise. At least Neptune knew now why he had been able to kick their collective ass so effortlessly.

"And his mother, is level mom." The mom level wasn't so much a level, as it reduced the level of anyone related to you, regardless of how strong you might be. Mr. Rabbit, for all his stats and skills, was no stronger than a fresh faced level one with no skills when faced with the wrath of his mother.

"I object to this," Vert said, throwing a concerned look over her shoulder at Xone who appeared to be traumatized by the appearance of the rabbit, "I demand a different trainer."

"I never said you had to accept the training," Code said without missing a beat. He pointed back the way they had come. "You're free to leave if you don't like the trainer I've set up. There are very few individuals in Gamindustri that can actually help me push you lot to your limits. He's one of them and he's most fitting for you due to your shared history. He'll probably break your body several times over, but the Coliseum will ensure you don't die, and his mother will ensure that he doesn't leave behind any sort of emotional or mental scaring." He paused and shot Xone a quick look, "well, at least not any more than you might already be suffering from."

Xone touched Vert's shoulder with a shaking finger, "…will… be fine."

"Are you sure?" Vert asked her little sister, her voice thick with concern.

"…don't want to be a burden. …want to get stronger."

"That's my delicious flat chest… wait… what happened to your arm?" Mr. Rabbit's eyes were trained on Xone's missing arm. There was real worry written all over his face, as if he actually cared about her well-being.

"I'm sure she probably just got hungry and ate it or whatever," Neptune said jokingly.

A vast amount of killing intent slammed into Neptune and she suddenly found herself staring at the pointed of a spear. "Oh my, it seems Neptune has just volunteered to be a sparring dummy." There was not a pleasant look in Vert's eyes.

"Whoa there Vert! Down girl! Heel!" Neptune shouted in surprise, wheeling backwards in surprise. She had a sinking feeling she may have hit a little too close to the mark than she had realized and that sort of killed any of the enjoyment she found in her joke.

Something wrapped itself around her waist and suddenly she was jerked across the room. A pair of arms draped themselves over her shoulders and down her chest. She glanced up to see Code staring at Vert over her head. Her husband had come to her rescue and had pulled her from that sticky situation.

"Sorry, Vert, but she's my punching bag for the next two months."

Wait, what? That wasn't coming to her rescue at all!

"I, ah, object to being a punching bag! It's not really good for my skin and stuff." That sounded distinctly unpleasant and way to reminiscent of the various other times she'd gotten her butt whooped by this boss or that.

"Objection duly noted, and rejected," Code said without missing a beat. Nepgear's sudden whimper didn't make her feel any better either. "Vert, Xone, while the little rabbit may be a pervert, he's definitely strong enough to push you to your limits and…" he gave Noire and Uni a vicious grin that caused the two of them to step back nervously. "It's a lot better than the alternatives."

"Well, I suppose things will remain PG rated with his mother here to keep him under control," Vert admitted. She twirled her spear in her hands and sucked it back into her inventory. "Xone and I will just need to become the strongest so that we can see that Neptune gets her due."

Neptune didn't like the sounds of that one bit either.

Code pointed at a door on the platform next to the one Blanc and her little sisters had gone through. "That one is for the four of you. It's been reserved for your use."

Xone took a long deep breath to calm her nerves and settle her fear. "…I am ready." She was still shivered lightly whenever her eyes met Mr. Rabbit but it wasn't as bad as before.

"Well, then let's go. We mustn't let Blanc get too far ahead of us if we are to be first," Vert said. She placed a comforting arm around Xone's shoulders and guided her off the large, central platform onto the bridge leading to their designated training area.

"Come on young man, and no perverted antics!" The Mom said as she started after the two CPUs of Leanbox.

"That's fine! I'm going to find whoever took my DFC's arm and whoop their ass until there's no ass left to whoop!" Mr. Rabbit said fiercely as he trudged along after his mother.

"You know, perhaps I've gotten used to all the crazy things that happen around Neptune but I'm not even all that surprised that a tiny little rabbit turned out to be Vert's and her little sister's trainer," IF said as she watched them disappear through the door and into their training area.

Compa pouted. "I'm kind of sad, it would be nice to be able to play with such a cute fluffy rabbit all day."

IF snorted loudly. "I don't think there will be much playing involved there, Compa," IF told her friend.

"I wonder if Mr. Rabbit knows any sword techniques," Falcom mused. Her eyes were on the closed door on the platform. "Hacked characters generally have access to special and hidden techniques. It would be an opportune chance to get my hands on unique abilities."

"It's possible but he's going to be busy these next two months. You three are free to train against whatever monsters you like. If you swipe your hand like this…" he lifted one of his arms off her chest. He pinched his thumb and index finger together and swiped the air vertically. A holographic display popped up in front of her. "You can get a list of the powerful boss monsters and enemies in the Coliseum."

Neptune scanned over the list of bosses that appeared on the list. They seemed fairly standard until one got to the monsters whose recommended levels were over three hundred. "The CPU of Planeptune? I'm a boss character?"

"A different you, but yes," Code said as he poked the name that Neptune was staring at on the screen. It expanded and gave more details of the boss. "This is actually the Neptune of AlmostButNotQuite Dimension, along with Plutia and Nepgear of the same place. The dimension failed to maintain its form due to their Histoire's incompetence and now the three of them are stuck in the coliseum battling contenders until the end of time."

"That sounds like a nightmare," IF said dryly. There was a holographic screen before her as well and she was looking at the same boss information as she was. Falcom and Compa were both looking over her shoulder.

"It is, the three of them are quite irritable and very jealous of their contenders who have the freedom to roam a Gamindustri. They're stuck here."

"There's a version of me as well, and Uni," Noire commented as she stared at a different monster on the list.

"There's multiple versions of all of you, actually."

"This has to be wrong, Nepgear is stronger than me in all of them," Uni muttered as she scrolled down the list.

"So is Neptune," Noire scowled angrily at the list. "Where's my trainer? I definitely need to beat up Neptune here to prove that I'm stronger."

"Why does everyone suddenly want to beat up the main character and stuff?" Neptune whined. "I thought we were friends, Noire!"

Noire jumped "D-Don't think you can dissuade me by saying that!" She cough and looked away. "And I don't want to beat you up. I just want to hit you until I am stronger."

"Wait, how is that any different?" Neptune said with a deadpanned expression on her face.

"O-Of course it's different!"

"Anyways…" Code spoke up. He turned his attention back to IF, Compa and Falcom. "I can't really introduce Noire's trainer until the three of you are off training."

"Why is that?" IF asked suspiciously.

"It's more probably because I don't think Noire, or Uni, will want anyone to know just what sort of _incentives_ were provided to push them harder."

"What's the supposed to mean?" Noire demanded.

"Oh let's just choose this one, Iffy!" Compa said, as she expanded a set of monsters. They were around level seventy. "Those dogoos look soooo cute!"

"Fine, I guess we can start with this," IF agreed. She pressed the accept button and with a flash of light the three of them were gone.

"I probably should have warned them about that," Code murmured slightly. "Accepting a battle causes instant teleportation into it. Ah well, live and learn."

"So, are we going to get out trainer now?" Noire demanded, tapping her foot impatiently on the platform.

"Yup," Code said, and clapped his hands three times. The other elevator near Neptune and Code opened up and the whirring noise picked up again.

Neptune craned her neck to glance behind Code. As the elevator reached the platform it brought with it a large robotic character colored with the most flamboyant colors. Neptune could hardly believe her eyes as a vibrant pink and purple robot with fluorescent green lights and accents floated off the elevator onto the platform.

"Hello, Noire!" Anonydeath said in the most flamboyantly homosexual voice one could imagine.

Noire gasped in shock. "You! Why are you here?!"

"Oh, that expression on your face, Noire, I just so love it, I can't wait to bring out even more delicious expressions," Anonydeath squealed in delight.

Code brushed aside the holographic display and gestured to the villain. "He's your trainer."

"I most certainly am, my dear Noire," Anonydeath said happily. Servos clicked and his body seemed to hum with power. "Mr. Code has enhanced my armor and my specs and you will find I am much more capable than before. However…"

"He alone won't be able to push you to the heights you need to reach," Code finished for him. Code pulled a small USB stick out of his inventory and showed it to Noire. "Anonydeath made copies of your… time with him."

"NOOOO!" Noire screamed in horror.

"Whoa, never seen Noire react like that," Neptune said as she watched her friend collapse on the platform. "You're almost as good at breaking people as I am!"

"I'm not done yet," Code said and waved his hand. Out of hammer space a long rack of clothes suddenly appeared. Neptune had to pick up her jaw when she saw the outfits. Most of them could hardly qualify as outfits. There seemed to show more skin than they hid, or exposed and emphasized the places they should be covering. And the accessories were just as bad.

There was nothing PG about this scenario.

"NOOOO!" This time it was Nepgear that wailed and collapsed to her knees.

"What the hell are those things?!" Uni demanded angrily. "You can honestly expect us to wear those… whatever they are."

Despite the warmth coming from Code's chest, Neptune started to shiver. "I just remembered I have this report I need to respond to back home and stuff, so if you could, like, let me go so I can mosey on back home." She had a feeling that work was better than whatever fate was in store for her.

"Nope!" Code said. Wrapped both arms around her chest and held her tightly. "You're the only one that doesn't get a say in the matter."

"AH! Help! Noire! Uni! Nep Jr.! Someone save me from this villain!" Unfortunately Uni was ignoring her completely in her attempt to calm down the screaming Noire while Nepgear had curled up into a tiny ball nearby and was sobbing uncontrollably.

There wasn't anyone to help her. IF, Compa, Falcom, they were all sent away first. Neptune suddenly felt like crying as well.

"Code has provided me with a whole slew of new cosplay outfits for you and Uni to try on, Noire!" Anonydeath said. He twisted and spun in place in excitement. "Every time you fail to achieve victory, I have free reign to dress the both of you up!" He pulled a large camera out of his inventory and snapped a picture of the wailing Noire. "And I get access to all sorts of exclusive photos!"

Code grinned at Noire. "Right now, he's at the level where he can force you to into the outfits, and by the time you're strong enough to resist…"

"It would be such a shame to spread all these images across Gamindustri, but if my lovely Noire resists too much, well… they might accidentally slip out onto the internet," Anonydeath finished. He pulled out a giant jug of lubricant. "I even brought a little bit of _glide_ to ensure everything attaches smoothly. Even I lamented when that one outfit had a… malfunction."

"Start her off at level two hundred opponents," Code said.

Noire paled stopped screaming and stared at him in horror, "We're not ready for that level yet!"

Anonydeath leaned forward and one could almost envision him grinning at her. "Oh my dear, lovely, Noire, that's the point." He opened up the holographic display and choose a level two-hundred opponent, "let's get started my lovelies!"

"NOOOO—" the three of them disappeared in a flash of light along with the rack of mature rated cosplay outfits.

"And now there's just us," Code said.

Neptune tilted her head up to look at Code. "Are you going to dress us up like a couple of porn stars?" she asked with a feeling of trepidation building within her.

Code blinked at her and shook his head. "Actually no. I was going to at first, but I came up with a better idea," he said. Nepgear raised her tear stained face to stare at him, there actually seemed to be a glimmer of hope within those depths. "Just dressing the two of you up wouldn't work well anyways. I've already used it once with Nepgear so she is already very much desensitised, despite her dramatic reaction, and you probably wouldn't care unless they're really extreme, not after how you posed for that Random NPC."

"I had light beams to protect me!" Which were missing for some reason. She hadn't seen them in quite some time despite having been in situations where they should have appeared, such as last night. She'd have to make another trip back to R-18 Island sometime.

"So you say, but you're not really against nudity like most of your peers. You're the most liberal out of all the CPUs. And thus, I have a different incentive method for the two of you."

"You're not going to dress us up in embarrassing costumes?" Nepgear asked as she slowly climbed to her feet, her voice was thick with relief and suspicion.

"Nope," Code let her go and stepped out around in front of her. "I have these!" He pulled from his inventory a sizeable container holding the very NEP puddings he had created for her as a wedding gift.

"Ah! Those are mine! Thief! Monster! Villain!" Neptune shouted at Code. She couldn't believe he'd take her pudding from her so soon after giving them to her as a gift. And there were three missing! He must have scarfed them down while she wasn't looking.

It was an unforgivable offense!

"This is your incentive, Neptune," Code said as he grinned viciously at her. "I'm not making any more of these until you're _both_ above level two-hundred. As for this batch, there's just enough left for each day until the end of training. I had to eat one of them to even it out."

"There are three missing!" Neptune exclaimed.

"Really?" Code asked, looking confused. "I only ate one."

In the corner of her eye she caught Nepgear looking away guiltily and realization crashed down upon her. "Nep. Jr! How could you?"

"Ah hah, I'm sorry sis, I'm so sorry," Nepgear bowed at the waist as she apologized. "I was hungry and they looked so good and… I'm so sorry!"

This was utter betrayal from all corners! She couldn't believe what she was seeing, what she was hearing. Code she had come to expect that there was some sort of dastardliness hidden beneath that smile of his, but Nepgear! She never would have suspected her own little sister.

"Well, anyways, there's enough for each day of training," Code continued on. "At the end of every second day if you _both_ haven't each gained at least four levels, I'm eating two of them. If you manage to gain four levels, you'll each get one."

"This isn't fair! How can you hold the pudding hostage? What did they ever do to you?"

Code ignored her and continued on, "And Neptune, I have another incentive for you."

Neptune gasped sharply. There was no way he took _that_ hostage as well! "You didn't!"

He gave her a strange look, "actually, I was going to say that if you manage to have the highest level out of everyone after the training I'd fill a bathtub full of NEP so that you can bathe in it."

Neptune twitched violently. It felt like a bolt of lightning had just struck her. "Did you just say a bathtub full?" Her dream of bathing in pudding, and not just any pudding, but THE penultimate pudding… for it to become real.

She didn't bother to hide the arousal that trickled down her legs.

With a trigger she activated her HDD. A pillar of light erupted around her and she let herself get pulled into the air as her body shifted and changed, become her more adult and mature HDD form.

Her arousal was still trickling down her legs, but she didn't care. All that mattered now was to train like she had never trained before.

For the dream!

When the light died she turned to face her husband and gave him a hard stare. "Why are we still out here when we should be inside training? Blanc and the others already have a head start on us!"

**x~X~x**

She perched on the corner of the rooftop, watching, waiting. Her long white robe, split below the waist, with its deep, pointed hood was the standard outfit for one of her trade. The lower half of the robe billowed out behind her in the wind, revealing an assortment of throwing knives along with a pair of dark, supple leather boots and black leather pants. A light set of leather armor was hidden beneath the robe to help protect her chest and back, and to conceal her gender. On either forearm were thick leather vambraces reinforced with plates of steel. They were used to both block strikes and to conceal hidden armaments.

She peered over the edge of the rooftop into the cobblestone street below. It was crowded and busy, with all manner of random people milling about. Some of the citizens stopped to chat while others perused the wares of the various street vendors, their goods protected from the harsh light of the sun by large, colorful tarps. There were others that were simply passing through from one place to another. All of them were dressed well. Their colorful clothes made it seem as if there was some sort of festival was going on, but she knew this was simply a day like any other. The people here enjoyed dressing up as colorfully as possible.

It was a noisy, dirty, smelly place with very few redeeming qualities, but she wasn't here for the scenery. She was here for a single individual, the one that her eyes currently tracked as he made his way through the thick crowds surrounded by an armed escort. He was a government official and his bodyguards. The official was corrupt through to the bone but too well connected and influential for any official action to be taken against him.

Planeptune needed him dealt with swiftly, and silently. It was odd to get a job from Histoire herself, especially one that dealt with assassination, as the little Oracle generally avoided cold blooded murder such as this.

But sometimes it was necessary and that was where she came in, or if not her then another of the sisterhood.

She tailed the official and his bodyguards across the stone rooftops of the renaissance type city, leaping from building to building. Sometimes she was forced to quickly scale the wall of a building or use her grappling hook to pull her across a gap too large to leap.

It was easy to keep on the trail of her mark. He was moving with purpose, but not speed, seemingly completely oblivious to the danger that lurked in the rooftops above. Sure that his power and influence would protect him for all but those too ignorant to know who he was. The bodyguards were enough to dissuade those.

The corrupt official left the main street and entered an alleyway, a shortcut to the gathering of several smugglers he dealt with on a frequent basis.

Only three bodyguards followed him into the alley. The fourth was yanked up towards the rooftop, a thin, razor sharp wire wrapped around his neck, silencing him before he could shout out a warning. The bodyguard was tied off, his body dangling from the corner of the building.

She had to move quickly now, before they noticed the disappearance. Across the rooftop she raced and taking only a single glance into the alley below, she dove off the rooftop like a swan. Halfway down she pulled out a hand crossbow and fired. The bolt flew true and punched through the top of the third guard's skull with a meaty thunk. He dropped like a puppet with its strings cut.

The other three whirled around and stared at their down comrade in shock.

There was no hiding her attack now, but it was far too late.

For them.

She landed between the other two guards with nary a sound, a short sword in her left and a dagger in her right. They saw her, but could not react in time, there were few that could. Few could match her speed, and some run-of-the-mill bodyguards were not one of them.

Simultaneous strikes took their lives. The dagger punched through the base of the skull of the guard on her right and the short sword found the heart of the guard on her left. Their armor, generic as it was, did little to stop her weapons from piercing through. She ripped her weapons from their dead bodies and sheathed them.

She turned to the corrupt official.

The terrified official back away from her. "W-What?! Why would the sisterhood come after me?! I paid you!"

"We're not a protection agency," she said in a soft, velvety voice. He assumed his funding bought him immunity from them. It did not. Of course, they hadn't bothered to tell him that. Credits were hard to come by for the Sisterhood in Planeptune. This place wasn't like Lastation or Leanbox who used their services liberally. "And a certain someone paid a lot of money for your… removal." They would miss his revenue stream, but if Histoire really was willing to start using their services, that was worth more than any cash flow this buffoon could provide.

They needed to prove that they were useful. That was why the Sisterhood sent her, their best.

"N-No!"

She pounced on him, knocking him to the ground. She slammed her left palm into his chin. A thin spike shot out from beneath her vambrace and pierced his brain ending his life in an instant. "May you find peace in death." She retracted the spike and left a white rose behind on the corpse, proof of the completed deed.

With her job done, it was time to leave. She quickly scaled the wall of the alley and pulled herself onto the rooftop.

"Pirachu!"

She did not expect to see a little grey and black mouse with a giant bulbous heart shaped tail waiting for her. Her existence was supposed to be a secret, as was the job. The fact that anyone was able to track her like this was disturbing. She was about to destroy the grey little mouse until she realized it had what looked like a contract in its outstretched hands. It had Planeptune's seal on it, Histoire's to be exact.

Another job so soon? This boded well for the Sisterhood.

"Thank you." She accepted the contract and gave it a once over. There were no magical traps of any sort and the seal was legitimate. With a flick of her nail she broke the seal and unfurled the scroll.

**Mission Rank**: SS  
**Threat Level**: Extreme  
**Credits**: 10,000,000  
**Items**: Schematic: Poison Bomb, Schematic: Paralysis Bomb  
**Extra Notes**:

_To the reader of this contract,_

_At coordinates 34, 4, is a hidden base. It's cloaked by an encrypted force field. The key to unlock it as follows: _

_3048 0241 00C9 18FA CF8D EB2D EFD5 FD37 89B9 E069 EA97 FC20 5E35 F577 EE31 C4FB C6E4 4811 7D86 BC8F BAFA 362F 922B F01B 2F40 C744 2654 C0DD 2881 D673 CA2B 4003 C266 E2CD CB02 0301 0001_

_Deep within that structure is a super villain by the name of Spybore. Do not engage him as being an entity outside of our Dimension he is beyond your ability to deal with. However he has within his possession two items of value that need to be retrieved. Images of the two items are attached to this contract and will be unlocked upon acceptance._

_You are to retrieve those items and take them to the Gamindustri Graveyard. An individual by the name of Code will meet you there to take them off your hands and give you your reward. If for some reason he is unable to take them, you are to deliver the items to either Purple Heart, the CPU of Planeptune, or Histoire, the Oracle of Planeptune._

_The mouse before you is called Pirachu. He will guide you there but will not help you during your mission. Once you leave the hidden base, he will then guide you to the drop off location. _

_As this job is slightly different from your average assassination and comes with extreme risks, you are under no obligation to perform it. Other means will be deployed if you decline._

_**Oracle of Planeptune, Histoire**_

She blinked once when she finished reading the contract. This was certainly different from the usual assassination, but it was not completely outside the scope of the Sisterhood's work. They have, from time to time, been commissioned to acquire rare and valuable artifacts, such as golden apples and the like.

It was pretty far away. She was in southwestern Planeptune, south of Panan Jungle. It would take her three weeks of continuous travel to reach the coordinates which were located in northwestern Lowee.

However it was the threat level was the most worrisome aspect of the job. This was the first time she had ever seen an Extreme level threat. That meant the chance of survival was less than five percent.

Of course, low odds had never stopped her before.

"I accept," she murmured softly and traced her name, UbiSlyph, on the bottom of the contract with her finger nail. It glowed briefly and her name appeared below Histoire's. The scroll lifted up from her hands and started to glow. With a bright flash of light it disappeared and her quest log was updated with the new mission along with two images of what looked like odd looking crystals. The acceptance would most certainly be sent back to Histoire as well.

There was no backing out now.

She checked over her gear once more nudged the strange looking mouse with the toe of her boot. It seemed to understand and immediately started off to the northeast, in the direction of the coordinates given. She followed behind, making sure to keep to the shadows.

No one would question the mouse, but they would start asking questions if they saw her following it.

Considering the threat level of the mission, it was foolhardy to assume the threat only began on arrival.

**x~X~x**

The battle areas of the Coliseum were large circular platforms, almost a hundred meters in diameter, made out of some futuristic metal. They floated in the space between dimensions which was one of the secrets to the inability to die. Gamindustri cleaned up the dead garbage, but if it couldn't detect the garbage, it couldn't clean it up, and thus allowed for healing and recovery to take place, even from death.

Within the center of the platform was a large circle about half the diameter that glowed with a vibrant blue light and provided most of the light for the battle zone. Shooting off from the inner circle in the four cardinal directions were four thick lines that reached the outer edge of the platform. They too glowed with the same blue light as the inner circle. It wasn't a large platform, maybe a hundred meters in diameter in all, but it was large enough for the battle that was currently taking place.

"Cross Combination!"

Neptune flashed across coliseum battle ground towards her target. Her purple and pink wings glowed brightly as they pushed her to the edge of the sound barrier. Her large blade tore through the air in a serious of criss-crossing slashes. Everyone last one missed as her target weaved between each strike effortlessly.

A thick leather boot slammed into her chest with bone crushing force and launched her across the battle platform. She slammed into the metal floor harshly but she ignored the pain that shot through her body as she knew she didn't have time to wait for it to subside. Her danger senses were already warning her of an impending strike. With a harsh grunt she pushed herself off the platform and used the wings on her back to propel herself backwards.

Just in time as that man landed where she had just been. One end of his double-bladed staff embedded deeply into the floor of the arena. Neptune's sword merely scraped off the floor but his was able to pierce it like nothing.

"You're learning fast Neptune, as expected," Code complemented her even as he ripped his bladed staff from the floor and lunged at her, "of course pain is a very good motivator."

It was indeed. She had been on the receiving end of that strike more than a few times during the start of the battle. One of the first things you learned when fighting Code was that you never stood still. He didn't wait for you to power up or cast buffs or recover from his attacks. It was a painful lesson that she had been forced to learn the hard way. She still felt the pangs of pain from where his blade had ripped through her torso or a powerful magical attack had enveloped her.

Neptune blocked his strike as he brought his weapon down on her. A painful groan was ripped from her throat as she strained against the attack. The force of the strike brought her to one knee. It was heavy, far heavier than his lithe frame might otherwise suggest.

"You can rest when you've won, or when you're dead," Code said as he shifted his grip on his bladed staff to one hand and slammed a heavy fist into her stomach with the other.

Right in the spot where he had kicked her earlier. Bones snapped and she felt a painful tearing in her chest as shards of bone tore through her lungs. Blood and spittle flew from her mouth as he followed through with the strike. She was lifted off the ground and he kicked her in the same spot.

Her body went careening across the arena floor. When she finally stopped she laid there gasping for breath. She needed some time to recover. Even if he were to follow through and strike her then she didn't have the energy to dodge it.

"Final Panzer Blade!" The clear voice of her little sister called out. Neptune couldn't stop the smile that broke out across her lips. She had to remember she wasn't alone; Nepgear was here with her as well.

Neptune tilted her head and watched as her sister furiously attacked Code to give her some time to recover. Five, ten, twenty, forty times Nepgear struck at the man that was their trainer. Her large beam saber danced through the air singing a hymn with its passage. It was an incredible attack, a combination of speed, power and technique, designed to confound and confuse her enemies as she tore them to shreds. It was her strongest special attack. It was a thing of beauty to watch and Neptune hoped to create an ability like that someday. She couldn't always be outdone by her little sister.

However despite the sheer number of strikes, the flawless technique, the power and speed, it was still not enough. The man became a whirlwind of steel as he danced between Nepgear's attacks; dodge, block, parry, counter. Every strike was nullified in some way and Nepgear suffered. Her outfit which was already barely hanging on became more frayed and torn as he somehow managed to counter-attack amidst that incredible attack.

She reached out her hand to her little sister, "Stat Multiplier!" Nepgear was momentarily surrounded by a several lines energy as her vitality, mental strength, agility and technique were all increased by fifty percent.

"Good thinking, but not enough," Code said, noticing the increase in Nepgear's defenses. Then impossibly, he broke Nepgear's combo. It should have been impossible. Gamindustri didn't let a combo get interrupted until the end, but he did it anyway. As he ducked beneath another strike his right hand began to glow with a golden light. He released his weapon and faster than Neptune thought was possible lashed out with both palms. "Faded Brilliance!"

Nepgear screamed as she was consumed by a brilliant ball of golden energy. Her form was visible within the expanding energy as little more than a dark outline. With a thunderous explosion Nepgear was sent hurtling from the epicenter of that golden eruption of energy. What little had been left of her white and purple body suit was no more but Nepgear seemed to not notice.

Or rather she'd already learned that modesty wasn't something she could afford to care about while in battle.

In midflight Nepgear's eyes met her own. She reached out towards her and soft purple light began to emit from her outstretched hand. "Hyper Heal!" Nepgear called out and Neptune instantly felt better as the bones in her chest knit back together and the flesh mended. "Be careful sis! I can't do that again."

Nepgear was out of SP and Neptune was low as well.

Neptune was up a moment later and quickly shot across the arena to her little sister. She could see a dark form blurring towards her little sister. Her blade intercepted Code's as he made to strike Nepgear to finish her off.

"Together then!" She called back to Nepgear as she struggled to push Code back. Their defeat was inevitable, but at the very least she wanted to hit that smug bastard once. He was so carefree and cheerful outside of battle, but inside he was absolutely sadistic.

While she still had her own bodysuit, it was a miracle it still managed to cling to her body. It was in tatters revealing more skin than it concealed and only just barely managed to protect her modesty.

"Right!" Nepgear called back, having already recovered from Code's assault. The Stat Multiplier ability had reinforced her defenses enough for her to be able to recover quickly. "Together!"

The EXE gauge was maxed out. They had the energy to pull off their super move. It would be the only chance they'd get to actually hit him.

Neptune erupted with power as she unleashed the skill. Code was thrown back by the sudden eruption of power, giving Neptune and Nepgear enough room to get started. "Come Nepgear, let's show this man our true power!"

"I'm right with you Neptune! I won't let him go without a scratch!"

As one the two of them shot at Code. The landscape shifted and warped. Time seemed to stand still. The two of them struck at the same time. They danced around Code, their blades cutting into the frozen, suspended man a dozen times. The strength of their EXE attack and the laws of Gamindustri prevented him from retaliating.

They ended side by side, their weapons held before them. Behind them reality seemed to split in as an X shaped cut separated Code into four.

"True Violent Schwestern!" Neptune and Nepgear shouted in unison as they ended the EXE attack. Reality snapped back together. The force of the snap reduced the molecules in the air to plasma, enveloping Code in a massive explosion.

"Did we get him?" Nepgear asked as she whirled around to face the wobbling Code.

"I think we did. I felt my blade connect that time."

"Afraid not," Code said from above them. Neptune jerked her head and stared. He floated a good thirty meters above their heads, far from the epicenter of the attack. There was an enormous grin on his face, filled with smug satisfaction. Above his head stretched an enormous golden lance, almost a hundred feet in length. The head was wicked, five-pronged blade. Four blades surrounded the central point, each of the blades jutted out to the side before they angled back to the central point. Black lightning arced across its rune covered surface. "It's my win."

"What the goodness?!" Nepgear gasped out in disbelief. Neptune felt the same. The Code they thought they'd struck faded away like smoke. He had been nothing more than a decoy.

"This isn't good Nep. Jr!" Neptune called out as she eyed the glowing weapon in Code's hands.

"Maleficent Lance of Annihilation!"

There wasn't any time to run. All she could do was throw herself in front of Nepgear and raise her arms to protect herself as best she could.

Code drew his arm back and snapped it forward in a single, fluid motion, hurling the lance at them. The lance left an inferno in its wake as it scorched the air with its passage. The air screamed in agony as the lance shattered the sound barrier, sending powerful shockwaves through the underground cavern. It only took the lance half a second to reach them.

For the second time in Neptune's life, her vision was consumed by a bright golden light bringing back a sense of deja-vu, a memory from a time when she'd been stuck in the belly of a serpent. Her vision swam and her ears rang as an enormous roar echoed around her, deafening her. Unlike her memory however, pain came along with the light and the sound. Her defenses were woefully inadequate against this level of attack. The magical attack ripped through her mental defenses like they weren't even there.

The pain was excruciating. She could hear herself shouting in pain, hear Nepgear crying out as well.

But it only last a moment and was gone. She was dropped unceremoniously to the platform, having been lifted several meters into the air by the force of the attack. She was thoroughly beaten. There was nothing left in her to bring out, no reserves, nothing. What was left of her outfit was gone, leaving her as naked as the day she was born.

Nepgear wouldn't be any better off than herself. She wasn't that far behind Nepgear in strength, and that attack would have done her in even at full strength.

"Here, Neptune, drink this." Neptune looked up at Code. He was at her side, lifting her head into his lap. There was a Nep Bull SP in his hands that he was trying to get her to drink.

There was little reason to refuse. The battle was over. They had lost and would be forced to endure whatever perverted skit he had in mind for them. She accepted the vile tasting concoction. It truly was horrible, but it did the trick. She instantly felt half her health and SP get restored. Code was already moving onto Nepgear as she pulled herself up into a sitting position where he fed her a Nep Bull SP as well.

"You're strong," Neptune said as she gathered her legs beneath her and pushed herself to her feet. She wobbled once before she found her balance. "I knew that when I saw your stats before, but fighting against you really reinforces it."

"Strength born through pain," Code said as he helped Nepgear up to her feet. "Not really something to be proud of, but something I don't intend to waste." He grinned at her, "how do you feel though?"

"I don't know," Neptune said. She rolled her shoulders and stretched her arms. "I don't feel any stronger."

Code shrugged, "well you are. I know for a fact that you're faster to react to changes in your environment or counter-attacks than you were. You were actually able to evade some of my attacks there at the end."

Neptune supposed that was true. At the start she had felt like little more than a punching bag but at the end there, she really was avoiding some of his attacks and counter-strikes.

Not that it matter in the end.

Neptune eyed the exit of the battle arena. "I wonder how Noire is holding up."

She and Nepgear had been in here for the past two days, taking only short breaks to replenish their SP and catch their breath, before starting again. They'd both been given a eight hour block in which to rest, in which Neptune found out the hard way they had to split between the both of them since Code had attacked them in the middle of their sleep.

Someone always had to be on watch, Code said. Nepgear had almost looked embarrassed by that oversight. Apparently that had been common knowledge during the Viral War. You never slept alone, and there was always someone on watch.

Slurp!

"I imagine she's-slurp-dreaming up ways of-yum-ramming her sword up my ass."

That sounded strange. She glanced over at Code and did a double-take. He was eating her pudding right in front of her! Nosily, messily, as if he was taunting her with it.

"I gained four levels!" Neptune protested. She had made certain she'd gained at least four levels. It had been close, but she'd leveled up in the previous battle.

"Nepgear didn't," Code pointed out as he devoured another mouthful of her pudding. "You're both going to have to try harder if you want to save the pudding." He dunked his finger into the small plastic cup and scooped out the last little bit before sucking that up too.

Neptune stared at Nepgear, going over her experience requirements. She still needed half a level to get her fourth. Her eyes shifted back to Code. He was reaching for the second cup of pudding.

"WAIT!" Neptune shouted, causing Code to pause before he could open the second cup of pudding. "I'm certain Noire can handle whatever comes her way. Nepgear, get ready, we're about to start once more."

"But the training session is ov—"

"It's not over until I save my pudding!" Neptune said quickly, cutting Code off. "And there's still five more hours left in the day. The day isn't finished yet!"

"You need a change of clothes—"

"Pudding first, clothes later," she cut Code off again. She summoned her large sword and pointed it at Code. "Now draw your spear, we're starting again."

She would save her pudding if it was the last thing she did!


	19. End Game

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hyperdimension Neptunia. All characters, thoughts and ideas that exist in this story that were taken from the original works belong to their creators, Compile Heart and Idea Factory. Only original thoughts and or characters created in this story are my own.**

**Chapter 19: End Game**

Night had descended upon Gamindustri but it wasn't the usual night. The normal night birds that sang even in the midst of the city were silent. The wind was still, depriving the land of its gentle breath. The clouds covered the moon, as if it was too nervous to reveal itself. It was as if the world stood still in breathless anticipation for what was to come.

There was a tension in the air as well. It gnawed at people's nerves. No knew the source, but they all felt it. Planeptune was a city that rarely slept, but tonight it did. Everyone was in their homes, doors locked and windows sealed. Those still awake spoke in hushed tones, as if afraid speaking too loudly would cause the tension to snap.

Code sat upon the windowsill of Histoire's room with one leg curled up to his chest and the other dangling to the floor. He gazed out over the city of Planeptune, admiring the vibrant lights that kept the city aglow even in the dead of night. The static environment was the only element of Planeptune that remained the same. It provided a semblance of normalcy to a night that was anything but.

He could feel the tension in the air, almost see it even. Unlike the denizens of Planeptune, he knew the source.

"Are they ready?" Histoire asked. The little Oracle and her book were resting in the crook between his leg and his chest.

"As ready as they'll ever be," Code said. He gently stroked Histoire's hair causing the little Oracle the murmur happily. "They've all reached the minimum requirement, although just barely for some of them."

"The day after tomorrow, right?"

"Yes, then I will end it all," Code agreed. "I'll make sure the Viral War never occurs."

They had another two days until the deadline, but there was little reason to wait any longer. The others would spend one day resting and recovering from their training and then they'd set out. Attacking on their terms was more valuable than an extra day of training. The worst thing that could happen would be for one of the CPUs or CPU Candidates to die because Spybore attacked them while they slept.

Histoire jabbed a finger into his chest. "You still haven't told me how you plan to kill Spybore. He's still stronger than all of them together."

"I know."

He knew Histoire would object to his method which was why he intended to keep it a secret.

"Still keeping secrets are we? Some things never change I suppose," Histoire muttered. She tossed him an annoyed look. "So why are you here and not over there busily impregnating Neptune?" Histoire demanded as she threw a glare at him. "As much as it frickin sucks being stuck in this place alone, you should be over there making her yours."

Code flicked her forehead. "I told you, it's not her body I want, but her heart." Although he would gladly consume the former once he had taken the latter. But until then he wasn't going to touch her. Not intimately at least.

He reached for the book at his hip and pulled it out. Neptune's Histoire was still trapped inside and suffering the effects of being subject to the hell that was of Viraldustri. He needed to do something about her before the battle with Spybore.

Histoire eyed the book in his hands. There was a strange, concerned expression on her face. It was out of place considering his Histoire was normally one to enjoy the suffering of others, his suffering in particular. "Not that I actually care but… how is she holding up?"

"Not very well," Code admitted sadly. "My virus made you insane from the start and even then you could barely handle what flowed from the book." He broke the seal on the book and opened it up.

Neptune's Histoire popped out almost immediately and started to gasp for breath. There were several tendrils of darkness embedded in her skin now, creating a network of dark veins across her skin. Her normally blond hair had almost been bleached white and her complexion was pale. Dull grey eyes filled with pain and suffering stared up at him.

"Code…" her voice came out hollow and empty. Her head shifted to his Histoire, "my... book?"

"Wow, she really isn't handling it very well." His Histoire almost look disgusted by what she saw.

"No, she's not," Code agreed. He flicked his Histoire's forehead again.

"Ow! Stop that," she snapped at him irritably.

"Sorry Histoire, I'm going to have to defile you," he said softly.

"Bah! Don't apologize! You never did before," Histoire snapped up at him.

"…Defile?" Neptune's Histoire asked fearfully.

"Oh, not you," Code said as he poked the energetic Histoire in his lap. "This one."

His Histoire grinned at Neptune's. "It feels really good."

He peeled Histoire's dress and clothes off and tucked them away into her inventory. The small Oracle laid back on the back and spread herself wide for him. "Have at it bad boy!" The other Histoire's eyes widened in shock and her jaw dropped, obviously misinterpreting what was about to happen.

He shook his head and chuckled mirthlessly. "You know that's not necessary."

"I know, but the look on her face was priceless," Histoire said, jerking her head towards the other Histoire.

He chuckled again and gripped her body tightly with both his hands. She was small enough that he was able to encompass the circumference of her body. The illusion enveloping his body shattered. His skin darkened slightly, his blond hair became a vibrant green and his eyes glowed with a malevolent red light.

"Code… your body…" the broken Histoire murmured.

"Like seriously, what's with the pale complexion?" his Histoire asked as she peered up at him intently. "You're so pale you can almost pass a denizen of Gamindustri and your hair looks like it's actually been combed once in the past year."

He shrugged, "don't know and don't really care." He turned his focus onto the small Oracle in his hands. "Got more important things to deal with, **Diagnostic**!"

His hands lit up with a bright golden light and lines of code streamed from his hands into Histoire's body. They twisted and dove throughout her body, searching every corner and crevice they could find, analyzing, interpreting, recording.

"Ohhh… YES!" Histoire cried out as probed deep into her body. She writhed in his grasp, like a woman consumed by the throes of passion. "Fuck this feels amazing! YES! Ravage my body! Fill my belly with your disgusting, perverted code!"

Code's eyebrow twitched once with irritation. She always got like this when he did this to her. "Couldn't even last ten seconds, could we, Histoire?" he asked as he felt the warmth of her climax seep into his clothes.

"More! Fill me with more! DEFILE MY EXISTENCE!"

As much as some things had changed, others still remained the same. His Histoire was a masochistic exhibitionist that loved to be dominated. It might have been an unintentional side effect of infecting her with his virus, he didn't know for sure. He hadn't been able to get his hands on very many other Histoires to compare. It had been his first virus, and it hadn't been as refined as the ones he created these days.

Pushing Histoire's writhing orgasms aside he continued to delve into her body. He explored every inch of it, analyzing every single line of code and all the ones and zeros that made up her existence. She had changed since being transferred to the book of this world, and he wanted to see just how much she had changed, and what had caused those changes.

Histoire was like an interface, an AI that was connected with the world through the book. Even the book was really more just a door to the library that contained all the knowledge of Gamindustri. While the interface could control Gamindustri, to an extent, through the knowledge held within the book, Gamindustri itself wasn't passively influenced by the interface. The reverse was true however. Gamindustri did have a passive effect on the interface, or Histoire in this case. The happier and more joyful Gamindustri, the happier Histoire was. By making his Histoire the interface for this Gamindustri, he had caused her to be influenced by overall mood of this dimension.

Normally the change would be gradual, over centuries, but due to the sheer difference between Viraldustri and this Gamindustri, there were some very rapid, visible changes. The speed would no doubt slow down as his Histoire became more attuned to this dimension.

He delved deeper into Histoire, using her connection to the book to stream his analysis and diagnostic code into the book she rested upon and all of Gamindustri.

His mind expanded and he could see all of Gamindustri spread out before him. The power and knowledge that rushed into his mind was incredible. He felt like a God, like he could do anything. It took a lot of will power to suppress his urge to start playing with the laws of Gamindustri. The power was there, he could reach out and change anything, everything, but he resisted. Gamindustri was fine the way it was. It didn't need him playing God and anything he did would instantly notify Spybore that he was making changes. He couldn't allow that, it would ruin his plans. Besides, Spybore was an Extra Dimensional entity, just like Code. Nothing he did to this Gamindustri would affect him.

Even with all the knowledge at his fingertips, it wasn't easy finding what he needed. But managed he did, eventually. It took several long hours of probing deeply into Histoire and her book to find all the information he needed.

With that information at his fingertips he was confident he could now recreate Histoire if she were to be killed or destroyed in some way. There would be no way to bring back the memories, but the interface itself he could rebuild.

Code pulled out of Histoire, withdrawing his diagnostic code from her body. He went to give her a once over to see how she had handled the analysis and started in surprise.

The little Histoire wasn't quite so little anymore. She was the size of a small child now, two, maybe three feet tall, and her book was large enough to accommodate her new growth spurt with room to spare. It no longer felt like he was holding a small stuffed animal in his hands, but it felt like he was holding Virtual.

But aside from the change in size she appeared to be fine. She half sat on the book, half clung to him as her chest heaved with each gasp of breath she took. Her body still quivered from the multiple orgasms that had wracked it. Her legs were slick with her fluids and he was going to need to change his pants on account that it looked like he'd gone for a swim while still wearing them.

"That felt so wonderful," Histoire gasped out when she could finally form words. "The feeling is much more intense when not diluted by the screams of the damned."

"Glad you enjoyed it," Code said as he pushed her back so she was resting fully on her book. She floated beside him now, too large to fit in his lap positioned as he was on the window sill. "But I figured out what I needed to."

"What… happened…?" Neptune's Histoire asked as she stared uncomprehendingly at the larger Histoire. There was despair in her eyes, despair at ever being able to return to her book. It was a different book now, different from the one she had sat in. It would be too much for her now.

"I grew," Histoire said, "there was a need to improve the processor speed and memory of this interface to handle Code's," she shivered and licked her lips seductively, "delicious intrusion."

"Then I…"

"Not to fear!" Code interrupted Neptune's Histoire. "I'm not done." He grinned at the smaller Histoire. Before she shy away from that grin, Code snapped his hand around her body. "I fully intend to defile you as well."

"N-noooo! Please! NO!" Histoire wailed as Code ripped the bondage outfit from Histoire's body and proceeded to force himself into her as he had with his Histoire. "H-Have you not tortured me enough?"

Code laughed at her. He loved the expression on her face. She was, once again, misunderstanding what was about to happen, but that was fine. "Might as well enjoy the ride, because you're going to be on this one for a while."

**~o~**

**Several hours later…**

"Code… I can't believe you actually managed to do it," His Histoire said quietly. Her voice was filled with awe and wonderment.

"Well… what can I say?" Code grinned at his Histoire weakly. "I'm just that awesome." But damn was he tired. That had taken a lot more out of him than he had thought it would. He still had to make it back to the Coliseum.

He was going to crash hard when he got there, and unfortunately he would probably end up suffering Neptune's mischievous side, especially after what he'd done to her these past couple months.

Histoire shook her head slowly, "I… actually have to agree with you for once." She had yet to take her eyes off the prone form of Neptune's Histoire.

"Hehe…" he coughed and winced as he felt something tear inside. He swallowed the coppery tasting liquid that filled his mouth.

"Code? Are you… alright?" Histoire asked, finally turning to look at him. There was concern in her eyes, real concern, which was odd to see coming from her. She always said she looked forward to the day he died.

"I will be… after I get some rest," he lied. There was little point in using a Nep Bull. The damage he had done to himself was irreparable, but that was fine.

"Bullshit you're fine!" Histoire snapped at him angrily, "don't lie to me Code! I'm not like the other fools in this dimension. I can tell when you're not being honest."

Code gently touched Neptune's Histoire. Even unconscious she quivered beneath his touch, as if expecting more to come. Her naked body was slick with sweat and sprawled out like his Histoire had been earlier. The sheets beneath her would need to be replaced, soaked in her arousal as they were.

He idly wondered if all Histoires had a slightly masochistic streak to them. It would make sense considering the CPUs they invariably ended up choosing, such as Plutia's sadistic side or Neptune's sheer insanity.

"I had to give a piece of myself up to anchor her here," he said and coughed again. He tasted more blood but swallowed it anyways. His stomach protested heavily but he kept it down through sheer force of will. "It was difficult to bring it across the dimensional boundaries without Mother finding out, but I managed." He touched the now pristine white sheets of the book. Gone was the inky darkness and blood red scrawling. The dark tendrils were no more.

And like the book she had recovered, although she was much larger. She was now the same size as his Histoire, having been forced to upgrade her hardware to accommodate his bandwidth. Her hair was now the vibrant shade of blond that it had been before and her skin had regained its natural color.

"There's no reason why there can't be _two_ Histoire's for a single Gamindustri."

And there was little reason to keep Neptune's Histoire tied to Viraldustri. She knew the truth about the Revival Protocol, so there was little risk in her performing that ritual now. And considering what he planned to do, it mattered little if the truth about their shared history came to light.

"And what about you?" his Histoire asked him.

He gave her a wry grin, "I'm still stuck in Viraldustri. You know that. I can't leave, none of us can." It was the same for his siblings. Their true forms, and most of their power, were trapped in Viraldustri. They couldn't leave. They could only project their consciousness onto a mobile platform. "This is the best I can do." He gestured at himself. "And it's why I can travel through time as freely as I can. I'm not anchored to this Gamindustri." He grimaced and looked away. He wished he could detach himself, but he knew that would never happen. So long as his mother still existed, he would always be stuck as he was. His mother would stop any attempt he made to escape her grasp. "Mother is still amusing herself by taking me apart and putting me back together like a bunch of leggos."

There was only one way for him to escape Viraldustri and his mother's grasp, and only one way to stop the Viral War.

**x~X~x**

Neptune let out a long luxurious sigh as she sunk into the soft, leather lazy boy chair. It was one of several positioned around a glass table. On the table before her was a glass of tea, some cookies and a slice of cake, all in various stages of consumption. The common room of the five-star in she stayed at didn't skimp on the luxury. It was pomp and posh, with thick, plush carpets, expensive furnishings and trappings, and anything else one could dream of. It was perfect for lazing about all day. She was in her human form with a soft, purple bath robe wrapped around her body and little else.

She was simply too tired to care to put anything else on.

Code had graciously given them all the day off to rest and recover before the final battle. She intended to make the most of it by doing as little as she possibly could.

The past two months had been hell. Every day from the time they got up until they'd collapsed from exhaustion, they had trained. Or put through sheer and utter torture as she liked to put it. Code was merciless. She had managed to save some of her puddings in the beginning but then the experience requirement per level started to outpace the rate at which they were acquiring it. The last month had been horrible, being forced to watch Code devour pudding after pudding while she starved.

However despite the harsh training, and the even harsher incentives, it had worked. Or perhaps it had worked because of them. Whatever the reason she was level two hundred and fifty now, and Nepgear was just shy of that. Her stats were unbelievable and she felt incredible. She could actually feel the muscle hiding just behind the surface of her soft, pliable flesh. Never in her almost three hundred years of being the CPU of Planeptune had she ever been this powerful.

She could game for at least ten years straight before her level was reduced to level one again.

Neptune opened her eyes and gazed across the room without really seeing. That thought lingered in her mind. Gaming for ten years straight did sound interesting, especially with a little sister to spoil her but…

For some reason that thought didn't seem nearly as appealing as it did just a few months ago.

She tilted her head to the right. It was about all she was willing to do right now. Nepgear was resting in the chair next to hers, stretched out much like she was and wearing a matching bath robe. Neither felt like doing much of anything. Their bodies protested any movement they made.

"I'm thirsty." Of course that didn't stop Neptune from outrageously abusing her sister's kindness.

Nepgear groaned and pushed herself off the chair. She grabbed Neptune's drink from the table and held it up to her mouth. Neptune gave her sister a smile of thanks and took a long sip from the straw poking up out of the top of the cup of tea.

"Thanks," Neptune said. Nepgear nodded her head wearily and set the cup of tea back down on the table before she went back to slouching in her chair.

The two of them weren't the only ones in the room.

"Glad I didn't sit over there," IF muttered as she relaxed much like she did, although at least had the energy to properly dress herself.

"Ge-Ge, you shouldn't spoil Nep-Nep like that," Compa chastised her little sister.

Nepgear gave Compa a tired look and smiled. "I don't mind, Neptune is adorable when she's like this."

"Darn tootin right I am!" She was always adorable.

"I can't believe how strong they've all gotten," Falcom said, still sounding mystified. The adventuress was going over her sword, the Dragonslayer, for any nicks and rough edges in the blade. It wouldn't do for your weapon to degrade and break on you because you didn't take care of it.

IF, Compa and Falcom had taken it easy those first few days, only doing a few relatively simply battles. It wasn't until they saw how quickly everyone else was leveling that they really got serious about training. Then they'd really thrown themselves into battle. Unfortunately for them, nothing could compare to the torture the rest of them had been put through. IF made it the furthest, but even she only broke into the mid one hundreds.

"I can't believe someone kept Neptune motivated for so long," IF added.

"Hey, I can be plenty motivated when there is reason to be!" Neptune protested. That hurt, she could try, she just never really wanted to. But she definitely had reason to want to these past two months.

"Trust me, if what she had to wear was anything like what WE had to wear…" Noire said as she entered the common room. Uni was with her, trailing just slightly behind. Neptune thought it was probably prudent to keep quiet that Code had gone back on his initial plan to make them wear embarrassing outfits. "Where is that bastard anyways? I want to give him a piece of my mind!"

"Never again," Uni vowed.

IF shifted slightly in her chair to be more comfortable "Which bastard?" she asked dryly, "Code or Anonydeath?"

"Either! Both!" Noire snapped angrily.

Neptune laughed causing Noire to shoot her a glare. She had seen Noire searching high and low this morning for Anonydeath, probably hoping to find him and tear him apart with her bare hands. He had kept all his images and videos of Noire, although he had gotten rid of the ones of Uni saying he wasn't interested in her. Noire had been too weak and tired last night to protest and Anonydeath had disappeared by morning. It left Noire rather irate. Her sights had instantly switched to Code, who had been the provider of the costumes and enabler that let Anonydeath have his way, but he had disappeared as well for some reason leaving Noire with no one to vent her frustration on.

"Anonydeath is gone, doubt you'll hear from him for a while."

"Code has gone back to Planeptune, he said he needed to confirm something with Histoire," Nepgear added.

"Aww, is Noire embarrassed about having her cosplay fetish getting out into the open?" Neptune teased her friend.

"Shut it Neptune!"

"Why did we end up with the perverts?" Uni grumbled as she found the chair beside Nepgear and flopped into it.

Vert had hit it off well with Mr. Rabbit's mother, who they had learned was called Vivianne. Vivianne, being a mother with a rowdy child, she was adept at dealing with younger people and whenever Vert wasn't getting her ass kicked all around the battle arena by Mr. Rabbit, Vivianne was teaching the ways of motherhood to her.

Of course Neptune wasn't entirely sure taking advice from a rabbit was a particularly good idea. Xone seemed to share her sentiments from the wild eyed looks she gave Neptune as Vert dragged her this way and that. Neptune wondered if she was supposed to rescue Xone in those situations.

Mr. Rabbit had turned out to be as shameless a pervert as either Code or Anonydeath, but at least he had been kept under control by his mother and even Vert by the end there. Vert had earned half her certificates to be considered a qualified mother by the end of the training and that experience was starting to bleed over into her ability to control Mr. Rabbit, much to his chagrin.

Even now Vert was off talking with Vivianne somewhere.

Which probably left Mr. Rabbit to chase Xone around the Coliseum.

Blanc had managed to break into the two-hundreds, but her little sisters hadn't, ending just shy. Code said that was fine. Being magic based they didn't need to have quite as much firepower to break through Spybore's defenses. He was far stronger against physical attacks than magical. Still, the two of them, Rom and Ram, had reached an admirable level one hundred and ninety.

Who knew a Future Rom infused with the spirit of a dead Future Ram could be such a motivator? Although perhaps Neptune shouldn't be so surprised. Being the same people Future Rom/Ram would know exactly how to motivate the two of them into giving their best, and Blanc would follow suite on account of her pride. No way would Blanc let her little sisters be stronger than her.

Blanc was in her room reading and the Roms and Ram were probably sleeping nearby. They were more tuckered out than the rest of them, Neptune included, and Neptune knew she would be asleep if she wasn't too tired to fall asleep.

"It's all Neptune's fault, I know it is. Only things this random happen around her and we're suffering by being nearby," Noire snapped irritably as she took the chair to Neptune's left.

"Look on the bright side, you're both strong now," IF said as she tried to put a positive spin to the situation.

Noire and Uni were also both over level two hundred. Uni was a higher level than Nepgear, being just shy of two hundred and forty, while Noire trailed them all slightly in the low two-thirties. Neptune had managed to beat all of them reaching two hundred and fifty. She had reason to be the strongest.

Which reminded her, she needed to chase Code down and demand that bath of pudding. She had met all the requirements for that achievement.

"That's about the only good thing that came of this whole ordeal," Noire complained. "And I'm still not entirely sure that it's worth it. I mean, whoever heard of a boss over level five hundred anyways? That Code was probably just exaggerating things."

"Ugh…" Uni groaned as if remembering something she'd rather not. "If anything it's probably the opposite. Code tends to call a hurricane a gentle breeze."

Nepgear grinned tiredly at Uni. "Remember when he called getting his chest blown open as mildly discomforting…"

Neptune tuned them out as they continued to banter back and forth. Right now she was simply too tired to even want to listen. Her own thoughts took up enough of her energy as it were; she didn't want to add other thoughts to them.

All she wanted right now were to be consumed by thoughts of warm tea, deserts, games and a bathtub filled with NEP. That was it really. She probably had a back log of games she had to work through now, and many of the deserts from the wedding were still awaiting her attention.

Snatching something out of the air she used it to scratch an itch on her cheek. Tomorrow they'd all go battle the big final boss of the story and live happily ever after. There was so much relaxing and lazing about to catch up on that she didn't even know where to begin.

"…disappointing."

Xone's soft voice broke her out of her reverie. Vert's little sister was pouting slightly as she stared at something in Neptune's hand. It was only then that she realized she had one of Xone's kunai and was using it to scratch her cheek.

"Whoa! Where did this come from?"

"You can't be that stupid, Neptune, you caught it when she threw it at you," Noire said blandly. "I thought for sure it'd hit you with that silly expression on your face."

Xone was being Xone again. Well, Neptune wasn't going to take that sitting down. Or rather she would, since she already was sitting down and didn't want to get up, but she'd do something in return.

Neptune glanced past Xone towards the exit she had come through. "Oh! Hey Mr. Rab—" Xone was through the roof and gone before Neptune could finish. "—bit. Hehehehe."

There wasn't anyone actually there. Neptune had just said that to tease Xone.

"That wasn't very nice, Nep-Nep."

"She'll get over it," Neptune waved away Compa's disapproval. "I'm too smooth now to be affected by her trolling!"

"Code drilled that into us," Nepgear explained to everyone else in a way that they were able to understand. "He would always attack us in surprise. He even attacked us while we were asleep."

"Sounds like you had it as bad as we did," Noire said, seemingly understanding their plight. The CPU of Lastation turned to Xone, "don't worry. Give her a few months, maybe a year, and she'll be back to a lazy slob again."

"Hey! That's rude, I'll last at least ten years with all these levels!"

"And she didn't even try to deny it." There was a deadpanned look on Noire's face.

"That's Nep for you, although I'm only going to give it five," IF said. There was a rather sadistic smirk on her as she leveled her gaze on Neptune.

"I won't even give it that, four at most," Uni chimed in. "Nepgear spoils her too much."

"Hey, what is this, drag Neptune through the mud day?" Was she the butt of another joke? That seemed to be a running gag in this story.

"Poor Nep-Nep," Compa said comfortingly, "they don't know how hard you work at being lazy! Two years at best!"

"Not you too Compa!" Nepgear wailed. Was everyone turning against her? She shot her sister a pleading look. "Help your little ol' sister out Nep. Jr!"

"Ahahaha," Nepgear laughed lamely and looked away. "Eight?" She didn't sound particularly sure of herself.

"Nepuu!" Even her little sister had turned turncoat! "Fine then! I'll just mosey on back to my room and be even lazier! I'll prove you all wrong and do it in one year!"

She waited, nothing happened.

Noire gave her a flat look. "I thought you were going to go back to your room."

"I am, give me a sec-a-mundo!" Neptune turned to the one person she knew she could always rely on to pamper her. "Hey, Nep. Jr! I need some help being lazy here."

"Sure, Neptune, I'll…" she trailed off and shifted her eyes to stare at something behind her.

"What, what is it?" Neptune asked, too lazy to turn her head.

A pair of hands snaked beneath her arms and pulled her up out of the chair. She found herself staring into Code's eyes as he settled her into his arms bridal style. "Please don't be too lazy." He had a small smile on his face as he stared down at her. His face was pale and there was pain in his eyes. That didn't seem normal. "Try and last at least five years."

"What, why? That's so long!" Neptune complained.

"The Viral War?" Uni asked, figuring out what he was getting at.

"Yes. Being lazy today is fine, you've all earned it." Code captured each of their gazes in turn. "But this is really only the start. Five years from now the Viral War begins. I'm hoping to stop it before it even begins, but there's no guarantee. If in five years, nothing happens…" he turned his smile back on her. "Then you're free to be as lazy as you want."

"Bleh, if I can get this strong in two months I can do it again later!" Neptune protested. "I'll just laze away four years and then grind back up to this level in time for the next big story!" She pointed to the door to her room. "Now away my chariot! Too the bedroom, sleep and beyond!"

"Go get some rest Code, I will make sure that Neptune properly takes care of herself," Histoire said, appearing from seemingly nowhere.

"Whoa! Histy! You got like, big and stuff," Neptune said as she looked her Oracle over.

"She's the same size as I remember her from the future, it seems some things are still on track," Uni murmured.

"It is simply a by-product of needing more processor speed and memory to handle changing situations," Histoire explained to everyone in a calm voice. "I am now more capable of handling Neptune's insanity, and punishing her when she tries to shirk her duties."

"I don't like that last part very much," Neptune said. "Or the first part."

"So what brings the Oracle of Planeptune here?" Noire asked.

"I wish to oversee this from here. Spybore and I have a bit of a history. I will be able to tell when he is truly destroyed, or when vulnerabilities have appeared in his defenses."

"That sounds useful, certainly more useful than a certain lazy slob," Noire gave her a pointed look.

"Ah don't worry about that, it should be impossible for me to lose all my levels before the big final boss fight!" But there was one problem, "why hasn't my chariot started moving? A pillow awaits my slumbering face!"

"And drool," Code added. She ignored that little jab as he finally started across the common room. "I'll keep Neptune occupied for the rest of the day, so please, rest up. Tomorrow is the big day."

"Thanks, things might actually return to a semblance of normalcy with Nep gone," IF said.

"Wait, I still need to pay you back for those damn costumes!" Noire shouted at Code as he entered her room. The door closed behind them muffling anything else Noire had to say.

Code didn't make his way over to the bed. Instead he made his way to the bathroom.

"The bed's over there," Neptune said, as she pointed to the soft, down filled bed she really wanted to fall asleep in. She'd already taken a bath today, she didn't need another.

He smiled down at her, it was an odd, gentle smile, "I know, but I think you'll want to make an exception for this."

Oh? She peered towards the bathroom door inquisitively. It was closed but she could see some light shining through the cracks around it. Now her curiosity was peaked.

Code pushed the bathroom door open and stepped inside. Instantly Neptune's mind was assaulted by what could only be described as heaven given physical form.

The floor tiles were made out of some kind of purple hard candy. The vanity was a giant cake and the bowl for the sink was filled with syrup. The toilet was a gingerbread construction, covered with chocolate and hard candies. The ceiling had somehow disappeared, replaced by a beautiful night sky and the walls, the walls were literally waterfalls made out of pudding!

And dominating half the bathroom was an enormous bathtub made out of a giant cookie filled with Neptune's Eternity Pudding.

"I did promise you a bath full of NEP," Code said lightly.

"Exception Accepted!" Neptune crowed happily and jumped out of Code's arms. She grabbed her bathrobe and tossed it to the side. "Yahoo!" She leapt across the room and landed in the giant tub full of pudding, causing it to splash and spill over the sides.

She was in heaven the moment she hit the pudding. Unbelievable warmth rolled across her body, submerging her in blissful happiness. Her weariness drained away and she could feel energy flowing back into her body.

"Do you like it?" Code asked. "I figured if I'm going to do something, I might as well go all the way."

"Greatest. Day. Of. My. Life," Neptune said with a luxurious sigh. The pudding curled around her body, gently embracing her like only pudding could do. Her face heated up and her skin became super sensitive. Worries, concerns, inhibitions, everything slowly melted away, leaving only Neptune and her desires, soaking in heaven.

"That's good, I'll be outside if you need anything." He turned to leave.

There was one thing she needed.

"Code," Neptune said, stopping him before he could take more than a single step. She slowly stood up, relishing in the feel of pudding cascading down her body. She hit the trigger and was enveloped by a pillar of purple energy. The pudding around her churned and swirled around her.

"Is something wrong, Neptune?" he sounded worried as she came out of her transformation.

"There is one problem I intend to rectify," Neptune said, her voice now deeper and more mature. It's something that'd bugged her for the past two months and something she intended to fix here and now. She reached out and pulled Code towards her. "I still feel like I've lost to Blanc."

"Huh?" He looked confused.

"Shut up and get in the bath."

**x~X~x**

"This is it, is everyone ready?" Code asked everyone assembled outside the Coliseum. The whole lot of them were standing in a rough circle around one another.

They were all there. Neptune was standing beside him with a serious look on her face. Nepgear was just beside her, looking a little nervous but no less determined to end this once and for all. The both of them were already transformed into their HDD state. All the CPUs and CPU Candidates that could transform, were transformed. Code had warned them that Spybore wasn't one to give them the time to transform in mid battle.

"I'm ready to end this." Neptune turned to her sister. "What about you Nep. Jr?"

"I won't let you down, Neptune!"

"If only Neptune could always be this serious," Histoire lamented sadly. "I would feel much better about the future of Planeptune."

"You're asking for the impossible, Histoire," IF said lightly. "Nep is Nep because she's not very serious. I think we'd all be pretty weirded out if this became the norm for her."

"Ya! Nep-Nep is fine the way she is," Compa agreed with IF.

"Right," Falcom agreed. "I'm not sure how much I can contribute, but my Dragonslayer is at your service, Lady Purple Heart. I'll make sure any extra minions lying about don't attack you from behind."

IF chuckled. "You know me, Nep, I've always got your back."

"And I'll bandage anyone that gets a boo-boo!" Compa added. She looked rather menacing as she said that on account of the enormous syringe she was waving in the air and the incredibly acidic and toxic liquid that dripped out of the top of it.

"What a cheerful bunch," Uni said as she checked her enormous beam cannon over once more to make sure it was ready for battle. She and Noire floated just opposite of Neptune and Nepgear in the little circle they'd formed. "I don't understand how you can all be this way considering we're about to supposedly go into battle with the greatest menace in all the Gamindustris."

"There's no way I will lose," Noire said with an arrogant smirk on her lips. "Our victory is almost assured now that I'm here. Neptune, you can sit this one out if it's too much for you."

"No way am I going to let you have all the glory, Noire," Neptune shot back.

"Ladies, calm your selves. This isn't about glory," Vert interrupted their little spat. She crossed her arms beneath her enormous breasts and jiggled them a little, much to Blanc's annoyance. "It's all about making Gamindustri safe once more. We have all suffered because of this Spybore so we all deserve the chance to return that suffering."

"…payback," Xone said quietly as she gently touched the shoulder where her arm used to be. Even though she had lost it to CFW Judge, it had been Spybore that had given the order to steal the Sharicite Crystal that ultimately caused the showdown. The ultimate responsibility laid there and Xone had made little secret about her desire to turn him into her next pincushion.

"Payback is right!" Blanc snapped angrily. "That bastard caused so much shit up in Lowee!"

"Shit!" little Virtual shouted out cheerfully. The little girl had a huge smile on her face as she sat between Blancs legs, sprawled out on the ground just beneath the floating CPU.

"Frickin damn it don't copy me!"

The little girl looked up at Blanc curiously. "Why?"

"Because you shouldn't be swearing, that's why."

"Then why you do it?"

That was like a slap in the face to Blanc. She had no real answer for that, she simply did it because that was the way she was. "Because I'm allowed to and you're not!"

"Why?"

"GAH!"

"It seems that one needs some lessons in how to properly rear a child," Vivianne the rabbit said as she marched out of the coliseum with her son in toe behind her. Xone quickly hid behind Vert.

"I don't need some stupid rabbit telling me anything," Blanc retorted.

"Stupid!" Virtual said cheerfully once more, causing Blanc to flinch slightly. The little girl stared at the two rabbits for a few moments before a huge smile broke out on her lips once more. "Rabby!" She was on her feet racing across the ground towards the rabbits as quickly as her little feet could carry.

"Wait, stop!" Blanc ordered her daughter.

"Rabby!" Virtual shouted gleefully as she glomped Mr. Rabbit.

"Gah! What the hell!" Mr. Rabbit shouted in alarm as two small arms squeezed him tightly. "Help! Someone get this little girl off me!"

"Soft rabby," Virtual giggled happily and squeezed harder, causing Mr. Rabbit to start choking and gasping for breath. "I want!"

"Oh my, it seems the almighty, Mr. Rabbit has been brought low by a little child," Vert said. There was a soft smile on her lips and a very satisfied look in her eyes. "It would be a shame to break up such a cute scene, what do you think Xone?" Vert asked her little sister.

"…payback."

Vert nodded, her smile enlarging. "My thoughts exactly."

"You can't be serious! Help! Seriously, I can't breathe."

"Do not worry, Lady White Heart." Vivianne bowed respectfully to Blanc. "I shall tend to your child while you are away battling this Spybore. She seems to have become rather attached to my son."

Blanc glared at her for a moment before looking away with a harrumph. "You better not hurt a single hair on her head."

"No real mother would ever dream of hurting a child," Vivianne assured her.

"Fluffy!"

"GACK! Oh god! MY SPINE! It's not supposed to BEND-AHHH! That way!"

"So, putting aside the horrific torture my daughter is inflicting on Mr. Rabbit, are we all ready?" Code asked everyone. "Or are there any questions or concerns people have before we set out."

"Ummm… transformation?" Past Rom asked shyly.

"Ya! What about our transformations?" Ram demanded. "Why does everyone else get to fly around and look cool and stuff. I want to transform as well."

"…would be useful," Xone added her opinion.

"You don't need to worry about that," Code waved away their concerns. "I've already taken care of that. You see, I sent UbiSlyph to… to…"

Oh shit.

"Why are you paling?" Noire demanded. "You're not supposed to trail off and go white like that!"

"Code, what did you do?" Histoire demanded.

"I ah… sent UbiSlyph to Spybore's base to steal their Sharicite Crystals back from him," he said as he pointed at Rom, Ram and Xone. "I ah… might have forgotten about that."

"How can you forget about something so important?!" Noire cried out incredulously.

"A perfect match for Neptune indeed," Blanc said although she didn't sound particularly happy saying it.

"Someone needs to be taught not to keep such important things a secret," Vert added her disapproval to the pile.

He paled even more when he realized another fact. Future Rom didn't know about UbiSlyph. He had always found that weird, but if UbiSlyph died while retrieving the Sharicite crystals… That would explain everything. Despite everything they were still racing towards the very future he was trying to prevent.

So he did what anyone else would do when they saw their plans going awry. Swear. "Ah fuck me in the asshole, god fucking damn cunt piss."

"Daddy wants to be fucked in asshole by a damn cunt piss!" Virtual shouted out cheerfully.

The silence that followed was deafening.

Everyone turned to stare at him, each with a different look of disgust, disapproval and even disappointment. Blanc looked like she wanted to throttle him with her bare hands. Even Neptune was staring at him with disapproval.

"We're going to have a long talk after this, Code," Blanc vowed in a deadly quiet voice. She brought her enormous axe out from her inventory and began bouncing the haft off her palm. "A very long talk." A bead of nervous sweat broke out across his forehead.

Vert's futuristic spear appeared in her hands. "It seems Blanc is not the only one in need of urgent lessons on parenthood."

Noire's sword appeared in her hands. "I have my own issues I need to work out."

"An attitude adjustment is most definitely necessary if there are to be any additions to our family in the future," Neptune added as she brought her sword out as well.

This… wasn't good. "Sorry?" he wasn't, really, but damn this sucked. "I just sort of realized… this may actually be why Future Rom has-never-heard-of-UbiSlyph… gotta-go!"

The ground cratered beneath the force of his liftoff. He blasted through the sky, shattering the sound barrier as he went supersonic. He shot northward. His eyes feverishly searched the ground in hopes of finding UbiSlyph before it was too late.

**~o~**

UbiSlyph slid across the ground beneath the legs of the large viral monster before her, kicking up a trail of dust and dirt. She spun in place, her shortsword and dagger snapped out. The viral monster howled in pain as it collapsed to the ground, its hamstrings cut. Crippled as it was, it wouldn't be able to give chase.

There wasn't the time or ability to finish it off. There were too many monsters swarming around her. All she could do was cripple them and move on. A dozen different injuries dotted her body, turning her once pristine white robe a bright shade of red in many places. There wasn't any time to dress her wounds. Every time she finished one battle, she was dragged into another without any time to rest.

Stealing the Sharicite Crystals had been the easy part of the job. The decryption key had gotten her through the barrier. The base had been relatively straight forward, a dank, underground dungeon with several old, unused secret passageways.

The monstrosity that was Spybore was beyond anything she could have imagined. Even if she hadn't been told not to attack him, she would have refrained from it. She knew her limits, and she wasn't going to do anything suicidal for a simple mission.

So she had waited him out. Eventually he had left to go do something, somewhere. Then she had simply snuck into that room with the round table, unlocked the hidden compartment with the code she had seen him used to seal it, and stole the black box hidden within. She had done one quick check to make sure the crystals were within and had bolted from the base. The box was currently safely tucked against her chest, nestled as best she could get them between her breasts.

It had been simple, until she had gotten outside of the base. That was when things had gone bad. Spybore had noticed the theft by then and the unearthly howl that had risen from the base had chilled her to the bone.

She and the rat Pirachu had bolt from the base as quickly as they could, heading south towards Gamindustri Graveyard. The base exploded behind her, sending a pillar of black fire shooting into the sky, and a horde of viral monsters had begun to stream out of the ruins.

The two of them managed to evade detection by the viral monsters for the first few days, hiding when they had to, running when there was no other choice, and killing the few that did spot them, but by the time they'd reached Gamindustri Graveyard, there was no hiding anymore. She was human, she required sleep. They did not, and by then enough of them had gotten ahead of her and Pirachu that she had no choice but to wade through the horde of viral monsters.

They were all weaker than her, but the sheer numbers were something beyond her ability to handle.

So that brought her to where she was now, fighting a running battle against the horde of viral monsters.

She ducked beneath a kick from a viral monster that resembled a horsebird with three heads and a bevy of tentacles. Her short sword took its legs from it, momentarily dropping it to the ground. She had to step quickly to avoid the tentacles that lashed out at her, and even faster to put distance between her and it as it used its tentacles to form a makeshift set of legs.

A thrust of her dagger killed a small, relatively speaking, spider. A slash of her short sword dismembered another. She broke the kneecap of a large green brutish creature with a sharp kick and danced around a slow moving pile of black sludge.

She winced as the black sludge grazed her thigh with a gooey tendril. It burned through her robe and leather pants in an instant, leaving a nasty, burn on her skin. Despite being viral, they were intelligent. Or perhaps they were being guided by an intelligence. They aimed for her legs more often than not, as if to slow her down enough that she wasn't able to run away. She fought back the pain and pushed on. To slow down now would be to die.

UbiSlyph leapt over a small pile of garbage and cursed as a large red crab like thing with a mountain on its back broke through the surface of the ground in front of her. Those things could turn everything around them into a pool of magma. She had burns on her leg from the last time she'd encountered one of them.

Before the viral monster could breathe liquid magma all over her a massive heart shaped tail slammed into the monster, smashing it into the ground.

"CHUU!" A massive purple and black mouse rampaged across the landscape, crushing a slew of monsters before her beneath its enormous girth.

If it weren't for Pirachu, she'd already be dead. This was the fifth time it had cleared the path forward for her. Thankful for the assistance she rushed ahead as quickly as she could. There were still many more ahead of her but Pirachu's intervention allowed her to gain enough space to take a deep breath. She would have quaffed a Nep Bull if she still had any left. She'd burned through her stockpile already.

The mission didn't state where in the Gamindustri Graveyard she was supposed to meet with this Code individual and that Pirachu would lead the way, so she pressed on hoping he would show up.

And she hoped it would be soon. Pirachu wasn't look so good. As bad as she was, he was far worse. He was covered in injuries and a dozen of those viral monsters clung to him even now, tearing into him as he flailed and lumbered wildly across the battlefield.

The breathing space was gone now, as she reached the next line of monsters waiting for her. She forced down the pain as she made her injured legs to move faster. The short stubby viral carrotteer were quick and she couldn't afford to…

UbiSlyph was hurled into the air as the ground beneath her erupted. She wasn't the only one as the viral monsters before her shared the same fate. The ground quickly rushed up to meet her and she was slammed painfully into something that was far harder than the surface of the graveyard. She raced to the edge of the mound of dirt and leapt off the edge. The ground wasn't far below, only a dozen meters or so. It would be a painful landing, but there were plenty of viral monsters milling below to break her fall.

A pair of gleaming red eyes peered intently at her from beneath that raised mound of earth. UbiSlyph paled when she realized that she was staring at an enormous rock like viral monster, the likes of which didn't resemble anything native to this Gamindustri. It was enormous, standing on two legs like a bipedal creature, although it was hunched over, using the earth above it as sort of a shell to protect its backside. A short stubby tail sprouted out from its rear. There were faint hints of the ancient turtle in this creature, but only faint.

It was quite obviously something else entirely.

And it was very fast, lashing out with a punch that belied its size. It was all she could do to put her guard up before the enormous earthen fist slammed into her. Her weapons shattered, bones snapped, arms bent in unnatural directions, and her ribs bruised. Pain lanced through her body, scorching her mind.

A moment later she smacked into the ground with bone crushing force, snapping more ribs and sending sharp tingling pain shooting across her body. Her impact had thankfully been cushioned by a viral monster, which was even now dissipating into pixels around her.

But there were hundreds more, and she no longer had the ability to fight back.

"CHUU! CHUU!" She watched as Pirachu crashed into the large rock monster and bowled it over onto its side. The two went down in a heap, grappling one another in an attempt to rend each other apart limb from limb. Dozens of viral monsters leapt on top of Pirachu to tear at his unprotected backside.

A valiant effort, but ultimately futile. She would be sure to remember that heroic mouse for the few moments before she herself followed after him.

"So… I guess I failed…" UbiSlyph whispered softly as her vision was covered by the looming forms of viral monsters. They tore at her clothes, ripping them from her, and then they began to ravage her body. Pain ripped through her body as they started to feast upon her flesh, not caring that she was still alive. "I'm… sorry…"

"**Fallen Daystar!**"

An ear splitting screech filled her ears, it was like the sound of a thousand horny angels. Light brighter than the stars in the night sky enveloped her vision. The viral monsters disappeared, their forms vaporizing beneath the powerful unholy light.

"**Nine-Fold Rakshasa!**"

The man disappeared. Nine transparent afterimages sprung up around her and the viral monsters nearest here were torn to shreds beneath a storm of blades too fast for them to see, let alone react to. Even UbiSlyph wasn't able to count how many strikes there were.

"Who?" It was too late to save her, her injuries were too horrific. She knew she was dying. But she at least wanted to know who had come to spare her the ultimate indignity.

"The name's Code," the man said as he knelt down beside her. "Sorry I didn't get here sooner."

So he was the one she was here to deliver the crystals to. "The crystals are…" she could feel the box nestled between her breasts. She couldn't move her hands to point to it but she could draw his attention. It was a relief that she was at least able to complete her mission. A comforting fact that she could die knowing she had a perfect record.

"I see them, thank you. You've completed your mission." She smiled as he took the box with the Sharicite Crystals from her. She really was done now. "But don't you dare close your eyes. There's no frickin way I'm letting you die!" Code snapped at her. "I need you for the future."

There was no saving her. "I know when I'm dead—" He placed a finger to her lips, and then stuck his fingers into her mouth. Her eyes widened as she felt something enter her system, something strange and foreign. The shade of death that she had felt approaching suddenly stopped and pulled up a chair. "I'm suspending your death animation until Neptune and the others get here."

Her eyes widened in shock. Just who was he that he could overwrite the very laws of Gamindustri? But it seemed to take a lot of his concentration and the viral monsters were even now converging on them again.

He needed to leave if he wanted to survive.

"Lace Ribbon!"

"Victory Slash!"

"Panzer Blade!"

"XMB: Empress!"

"Sylhert Spear!"

"Ice Coffin!"

"Gefahrlichtern!"

The entire group of viral monsters converging on them disappeared in a hail of attacks and UbiSlyph suddenly found herself surrounded by all four CPUs and their little sisters.

"UbiSlyph!" The CPU Candidate of Planeptune, Nepgear, knelt down beside her. There was an odd look of fear and concern in her eyes, as if she was watching a dear friend die before her. Odd considering this was the first time the two of them had ever met in person. "Oh my goodness! Look at you!"

She wanted to speak but the fingers in her mouth made it a little difficult.

The CPU of Planeptune, Lady Purple Heart set an orange haired woman wearing a ridiculous looking pink cotton shirt and a syringe the likes of which nightmares were formed of, onto the ground beside her. "Compa, see to UbiSlyph,"

"Right-o, Nep-Nep!" the one Lady Purple Heart identified as Compa rushed to her side and quickly started to pull out bandages of all things.

"You might need a bit more than just that," Code said dryly.

"Don't you worry about me mister bad parent! I'll have Miss UbiSlyph all healed up in a jiffy!" Compa lifted her body and quickly started to wrap her bandages around her ruined body. For some strange and illogical reason, her wounds actually started to heal beneath the bandages.

Perhaps it was a unique skill of her, granted because of her close relation to her goddess, Lady Purple Heart. That was the only thing that UbiSlyph could think of since the bandages felt like any other bandages and Compa wasn't being particularly gentle with her, or casting any spells.

"You need to work quickly. I'm the only thing keeping her alive. I'm suspending her death animation at the moment. It's only a matter of time before Death gets impatient and attacks me."

"I'm working as fast as I can! I'll save her or I'll steal Nep-Nep's pudding!"

"Hey, wait now! That's not fair!" the CPU of Planeptune protested. "Code made those puddings for me, you can't have any."

"Can we please stay focused, those viral monsters are coming back," Code pleaded with them.

Falcom brought her dragonslayer sword out. UbiSlyph recognized her, everyone knew about the legendary ship wrecker, Falcom. "IF and I will deal with them."

"Right," a brunette with a large blue overcoat and more phones than anyone really needed agreed.

Lady Black Heart floated over to her. "That's a neat little trick, Code, mind telling us how you're doing that?"

"Sorry, trade secret."

"Hmph, thought as much."

"And can someone help the damn rat," Code snapped, shooting a look across the battlefield to the beleaguered Pirachu. UbiSlyph followed has gaze. Pirachu's struggles were weakening quickly. He wouldn't last much longer.

"I see no reason to help him. He was the one that took my Sharicite Shard in the first place," Vert snapped at Code angrily.

"And he redeemed himself by helping to retrieve them. UbiSlyph would be dead by now if it weren't for him." She didn't know how he knew that, but it was the truth. Code shot Vert a nasty glare. "But, if you want to just sit here and let him get eaten alive because of your own damn pride, sure, go right ahead. I'll be sure to remember that whenever you ask for help in the future."

Neptune gripped Vert's shoulder tightly and shook it gently. "Don't worry about it, Vert, I'll handle this." The CPU of Planeptune turned on her heel and shot across the battle field, blazing a bath of destruction through the viral monsters.

"Not alone you won't! I won't let you hog all the glory," Noire said as she quickly shot after her rival.

Uni grabbed Nepgear's arm and pulled her along. "Come on Nepgear, let's go, I won't be left behind either."

"Goodness! No need to pull, Uni, I'm coming!" Nepgear pulled her arm from Uni's grasp and blasted across the battle field. Uni shot after her friend, providing cover fire for Nepgear as the two tore through the army of viral monsters.

UbiSlyph gasped sharply as she felt something shift inside her. Death packed up his chair and walked away. Code let out a sigh of relief and pulled his finger from her mouth. "She'll make it, that's good." He seemed really relieved by the fact, as if a weight was lifted off his shoulders.

"Told you mister bad parent, I'll save Miss Ubi!" Compa said fiercely as she continued to wrap yards of bandages around UbiSlyph. UbiSlyph idly noted that she was rapidly being turned into a mummy, but at least she was alive so she kept her complaints to herself.

Code clambered to his feet and turned to the other two CPUs, Blanc and Vert. He opened the black box UbiSlyph had worked so hard to bring him. The two Sharicite crystals within, one green and black and the other pink and blue, seemed to pulsate. They hadn't done that when UbiSlyph had looked them over in the secret base. They seemed to pulsate like a heartbeat.

"Blanc, Vert, these are for your little sisters," Code said.

"About damn time," Blanc said as she floated over to the box. She took the dual-crystal from within and checked it over intently. "No damages, good." She turned to her two little sisters. "Rom, Ram, get over here."

"Yes Blanc," the two said together and hurried over to her side.

"Ram… and I, we held hands, and the crystal… together," Future Rom said as she floated over to Blanc's side as well.

"Well that's easy!" Ram said. She reached and took her sister's hand in her own. "Come on Rom, let's transform and beat the baddie!"

"Uh-huh," Rom agreed.

Blanc gave the dual-headed crystal to Rom and Ram who each held onto one of the protrusions. "Now concentrate like I instructed you before, and don't screw up."

Ram smirked confidently. "We got this!"

The pink and blue crystal began to pulsate in time with the beat of their hearts. It was soft a first, the stronger and more pronounced. Soon it wasn't just the crystal that pulsated with energy, but Rom and Ram as well as the energy infused within their bodies. A pillar of brilliant energy enveloped the two little girls. The pillar of energy swirled around in a circle, shifting colors between a bright white, vibrant pink and a shining cyan.

When the light down died Rom and Ram floated before them, as much twins in their transformed states as outside. They were mirror images of each other. Their height, weight and all their bodily proportions were identical. Even their outfits, a white bodysuit with pink accents, were matching. The only difference between the two were the color of their hair and the color of their eyes. Ram's eyes were a bright cyan and her hair a vibrant pink, while Rom had the opposite, with cyan hair and pink eyes.

"Now we're ready to kick some butt!" Ram said.

"Some butt!" Rom seconded.

Their personalities remained much the same. "I will be expecting more from you two now," Blanc said to the two little girls.

"You can rely on us, Blanc!" Ram said cheerfully.

"Uh-huh!"

It was Xone's turn, now that Rom and Ram had transformed. "My, must be nice to have two sisters, but I always believe in quality over quantity," Vert said to Blanc. The short-tempered CPU clenched her teeth angrily but managed to bite back her words as Vert took the green and black crystal from the book and turned to Xone. "Here you are, my dear."

"…thank you," Xone said as she gratefully accepted the crystal with her one hand. She rolled her thumb over the surface of the strange looking crystal. Her eyes glazed over as if she was drawn away by something. She brought the crystal to her chest and nestled it between a pair of budding breasts.

A pillar of deep green energy instantly erupted around Xone. Streaks of black and silver raced and zipped around the waves of energy, as if moving to an unknown beat. The pillar of energy continued of an almost embarrassing length of time, far longer than it had for Rom and Ram.

But when it died off they could see why.

Xone floated before them, transformed into her HDD form. Her hair was as long as ever, but it was no longer platinum. The hair on the right side of her head was as black as midnight, while the left side was as white as fresh snow. It parted at the base of her neck and flowed down either side of her body, reaching as far down as her hips. Her eyes were closed at first and when she opened them they could all see that they were the same vibrant shade of purple as her sister's.

Like her hair, her outfit was split between white and black as well, although it was opposite.

Of course, that only applied to what little of the suit there actually was. It was quite possible Xone could cover more skin by wearing a bathing suit. Like all CPUs, she had long, thigh high boots and on her right arm was a shoulder length white glove. Beyond that she wore little else save for a thong bikini on the bottom and a two inch black and white band that wrapped around her chest, barely managing to contain her enormous breasts. Covering her right eye and a part of her face was a targeting interface with a holographic display an inch in front of her retina.

The reason the transformation had taken so long was readily apparent. It was so it could adjust and make up for what Xone should have had, but lacked. Where her missing left arm had once been, was a new arm; a futuristic cybernetic arm that pulsated with share energy. One could see lines of green energy coursing through the cybernetic arm.

Hovering just behind Xone's green wings was her weapon; eight, float floating laser platforms that she could control at her whim. Half were black, and the other half were white, but they were all constructed the same with an elongated hexagonal superstructure with the energy cannon embedded in the front.

"This feels wonderful!" Xone said, completing a full sentence much to everyone's surprise. Xone gave Vert a wide smile. "Thank you, Vert! Now I can protect everyone close to me!" She touched her cybernetic arm. She turned the arm and wiggled the fingers. They moved as smoothly and soundlessly as a real arm. "And I have my arm back." She wasn't the least bit upset that it wasn't flesh and blood.

"Good to see it gave you the confidence to finish your sentences too," Vert said, happy that her little sister was happy.

"I had forgotten just how revealing Xone's outfit was," Code murmured softly as he eyed the girl up and down. "Almost makes you forget she's still not of legal age to date, and lament that fact when you remember."

"Forget about all that! What the frickin hell is up with those?!" Blanc roared as she pointed a quaking finger at Xone's enormous chest.

"As I said before, Blanc, quality over quantity," Vert said smugly. The CPU of Leanbox seemed extremely pleased with the turn of events.

"When we're done with this Spybore bastard, I'm going to frickin murder you!" Blanc snapped at Vert.

"You're more than welcome to try, my dear. Try and fail, of course."

"Grrr!"

"You do realize her chest is larger than yours, right Vert?" Code prodded the CPU of Leanbox.

"Of course she's not…" Vert trailed off as she stared suspiciously at Xone's chest. "No, that can't be true. There's no way anyone can have…"

"Hah! Seems like you've been outdone by your own sister!" Blanc crowed happily. "You're all washed up now Vert!"

"NO! This can't be possible!"

"What can't be possible? What did we miss?" Neptune asked as she floated down beside Code. She dropped the smaller version of Pirachu to the ground. Noire, Uni and Nepgear landed behind her.

The battle they had joined before was over and what few viral monsters remained in the vicinity were being mopped up by Falcom and IF. Their numbers were meaningless when the people they faced were strong enough to dispatch them with a single, normal strike, and could wipe out entire groups with a single attack. Even the large rock monster had fallen after only two hits.

"You missed Vert getting outdone by her little sister!" Blanc crowed to the newly arrived CPUs and CPU Candidates and laughed harshly. There was a wide, vicious grin on Blanc's face, as if she was soaking in the comeuppance Vert was finally receiving.

Neptune peered at Xone intently for a moment before giving the young woman a smile. "Congratulations Xone." Xone smiled in return. Neptune shot Blanc a quick look. "And you're right, they do appear slightly larger than Vert's."

"I think both of you are blind," Vert protested intensely. She whirled on Xone and pointed at her, "how large are they! Quick now, tell me!"

Xone blinked in surprise and shrugged. "98."

"GAH!" Vert let out a cry of shock, she was only a 96. The CPU of Leanbox looked as if she had just been told that her guild in Four Goddess Online had just disbanded and her favorite Butler-on-Butler game developer had gone out of business. "How can this possibly be?"

"Ah, don't worry about it Vert," Code said, waving his hand idly to the distraught Goddess. "You still have that motherly figure that no one else does. I'm sure there are some…" he trailed off. "You know, now that I think about it, Xone is better than you in every aspect."

Vert rounded on him angrily. "I must insist that you take that back!"

Neptune shot Code an exasperated look. "Can we save this squabble for later? I doubt Spybore will ignore what just went on here."

Code nodded, "Neptune is right. You should all head over there and get the first strike. That first strike may mean the difference between victory and defeat here."

Vert gritted her teeth angrily but nodded her head. "As much as I hate agreeing with someone who obviously has such poor taste in women," her eyes quickly shot past Code to Neptune and Blanc, "you are correct. I shall have to correct your views later, but that will be later."

"I think she just insulted our femininity, Blanc," Neptune said to the CPU of Lowee.

Blanc's eyes momentarily flashed red with anger. "She did, and we'll get her back for that afterwards."

"You all should get going," Code said as he looked to the north. His eyes were glazed over as if he was peering at something far in the distance. "If you follow the trail of destruction to the north you'll find Spybore. He saw the pillars of light and no doubt is aware of what has just happened. If you don't go now, he'll come find you."

"Well, we shouldn't keep him waiting, then should we?" Noire asked. She sounded as confident as ever as she rested the back of her enormous sword of her shoulder.

Neptune nodded her head, "no, we shouldn't."

One by one the CPUs and their little sisters started into the air, ready to start the final battle. Some were excited, others nervous, but they were all determined to end this once and for all.

Neptune paused when she noticed that one other person capable of flight hadn't joined them. "Are you not coming Code?" Neptune asked him, sounding concerned about something.

"Not right away," Code said, shaking his head lightly. "I'll escort the humans back to the Coliseum where it'll be safe. Then I'll join you.

"We don't need an escort, and Nep is going to need all the help she can get," IF said as she and Falcom joined UbiSlyph and Compa. The last of the viral monsters were now dispatched.

"Too many, wouldn't be able to help anyways," Code said. "Party limit is five front line and five support." The party limit was enforced by Gamindustri. Any attempt to include more and the dimension itself would interfere. And that was even if you could interfere at all. With that many on the battlefield, there wasn't very much room to add many more before people starting stumbling over each other. "Right now there are ten CPUs and CPU Candidates right now. I'd just get in the way."

"I see," Neptune said. "Then I will see you after the battle. Take care." Neptune gave all of them a wide smile. "And that goes for the rest of you. I don't want anyone to die today."

"We'll be fine, Nep," IF reassured her. "Just make sure to take that boss down."

"It will be a shame I can't pit my might against this Spybore, but I understand," Falcom said, sounding a little down that she was being let out of the final fight. "Sometimes the best course of action is to make sure the home is guarded while the others are out."

"I will not forget this," UbiSlyph said, getting on one knee to bow to Neptune. It hurt with her injuries but there was need for formality, regardless of her state of being. "The Sisterhood always remembers their friends, and today I call the CPU of Planeptune, Lady Purple Heart, and her husband, Code, my friend."

"Take care Nep-Nep!" Comap waved cheerfully to her friend. "Don't worry about getting any boo-boos. I'll have plenty of bandages waiting for you when you get back."

"Thanks," Neptune said. She looked as if she had no intention of getting hurt at all so as to prevent that outcome. The CPU of Planeptune turned to the other CPUs and CPU Candidates gathered in the air above her. "Let's go girls! For Planeptune, Lastation, Lowee, Leanbox, and all the denizens of Gamindustri!"

"YEAH!"

In a blaze of different color lights the ten of them flew north. It was easy to pick out the trail from the air. The army of viral monsters had left behind a trail of devastation and corrupted landscape. Their passage created a meandering dark blight on the landscape that went north, deep into Lowee territory.

The trail veered to the left not long after entering Lowee, heading northwest towards the furthest reaches of the territory. A place where Blanc ruled in name only and the denizens were too far away from the protection of any nation to really put their faith in one CPU or another.

A perfect location for a super villain to hide.

But the time for hiding was over and Spybore was as much aware of that as they were. There was someone waiting for them as they reached the end of the devastation. At the base of the mountains bordering the ocean, far to the west of Lowee, was an enormous crater. What remained of a large fertile canyon fed into it from the east.

And waiting for them at the edge of that canyon could be none other than Spybore himself. He sat upon a throne of bone and rock, surrounded by a horde of viral minions. The supervillain was enormous. He would easily reach twelve feet high standing and his girth was at least half that. A pair of gleaming red and black eyes peer up at them as they approached from a face that looked like it had been carved from stone. Dark grey, nearly black, hard angles, and riddled with cracks and chips. His body was covered by a large, dark robe that left his granite like arms and hands visible, and around his neck was something they couldn't quite make out due to the robe.

Neptune floated towards the ground, but remained high enough to stare the boss directly in the face. She had little worry about the viral monsters around her, she could see their levels and they were lower than the ones she had easily dealt with earlier.

The CPU of Planeptune pointed her sword at Spybore. "So you must be Spybore, the mastermind behind all the troubles in Gamindustri!" This was the individual responsible for all the suffering and horrible things that had happened the past few months. He certainly looked the part of the super villain, which just made their victory all the more assured.

Super villains never won after all.

"And you are the boring little Goddess of Planeptune," Spybore replied in a slow, lazy voice that sounded like two boulders grinding together. "Come to pit your pitifully boring might against my own, have you?"

"We all have!" Noire declared as she floated down beside Neptune. She wasn't about to be left out of the final introductory speech. "You hacked into Port Hole's systems," at least Noire assumed it was him. "You hurt Uni, and you tried to steal her Sharicite Crystal. I will see you punished for your crimes!"

Spybore shifted his gaze to Noire momentarily before glancing at Uni who hovered just behind her, ready to support her older sister however she could. "A pity that CFW Brave failed to carry out my orders. I did not order him to capture you, but to murder you in your sleep." Uni started in surprise and her eyes widened in horror. "A pity the boring fool was too honorable." He shifted his gaze back to Noire. "I must thank you for killing him though. I had just recently given that order myself. He always protested my means and you saved me the boring task of getting rid of him myself. I had to threaten to murder all the children of the Gamindustri to get him to do even as much as he did."

Uni quaked with anger and leveled her plasma cannon at Spybore. "You're a monster!"

Spybore smiled. He enjoyed it when his opponents praised him like that. "Yes, I am, and I most certainly enjoy it. Being anything else is simply too… boring." His grin grew wider. "How does it feel to know that you murdered an honorable warrior doing all he can to protect the children of Gamindustri? Your life, or the lives of millions of children, a difficult choice, and one he struggled with right up until the moment you killed him. I imagine he even went easy on you, delayed the activation of his Brave Blade, just to give you the chance to finish him so that he would not be forced to choose anymore."

Spybore could see that she was really upset now. The tears in her eyes tasted so sweet to Spybore.

"You… YOU!" Uni had thought it was weird that CFW Brave had been defeated so easily, even with their level discrepancy. Her weapon, armor and accessory hadn't been upgraded yet so her stats hadn't been significantly higher than his.

To think that he let himself be defeated by her, to be killed, was hard to accept. It hurt her heart a little. The past had changed, he wasn't the same CFW Brave she knew from her time. Perhaps if she had simply talked to him like she had back then, she would have realized the difference, she could have held back short of killing him.

Perhaps they could have been allies like she had hoped for the first time.

"I shall enjoy drinking your tears," Spybore crooned. It was a very odd sound like the sound of a tectonic plate shifting.

That was the last straw for Uni. She charged forward to do battle with Spybore but Noire blocked her with an arm. "Uni!" Noire snapped at her, "calm yourself. He will get his due! He has wronged us all."

"Ah, yes, the haughty, arrogant and boring CPU of Lastation," Spybore rumbled as he turned his attention to the white haired CPU of Lastation. "I plan to keep you alive, just so I can break you in front of all your boring citizens. To see your pride shattered and broken before everyone you swore to protect will most certainly _not_ be boring."

"I'd like to see you try!" Noire snapped at him.

Spybore laughed, a rumbling granting sound like that of an earthquake. "Oh, I'm quite certain you'll see me more than try."

"My, you certainly are an ugly fellow," Vert said as floated forward to float on Noire's right. "And quite disagreeable. You are so much like the cliché villains I beat in my video games, it is quite remarkable."

Spybore shifted his gaze to her. The grin that split his lips was downright vicious, "you I have a special fate in store. My boring sister, Malwhore, is always looking to add another Vert to her boring collection. There are, oh so many _interesting_ things in Viraldustri… and not enough Verts to _accommodate_ them all."

There was little need to interpret the meaning behind that statement. Spybore intended to turn Vert into a sex slave used to pleasure the viral monsters back in his home dimension.

"I won't let that happen!" Xone declared fiercely. The eight weapons platforms hovering around her started to glow as energy built within them. "The only way you're sending Lady Vert anywhere is over my dead body."

"Well, since I intend to personally bore into your flesh and devour you from the inside out, I think we're in agreement here," Spybore rumbled happily. "A pity that boring CFW Judge only managed to take your arm and not your life. Perhaps I'll deprive you of the other before I devour the rest of you."

Vert twirled her spear in her hands and pointed it at Spybore. "I'm afraid I will have to object to that. Only I am allowed to claim Xone, and I still need to finish power leveling her in Four Goddesses Online." She wasn't going let this monster devour her little sister, not after everything they'd been through together. Xone was just what Leanbox needed to jump into the next generation of systems.

"And I'm going to rip your frickin head off and ram it up your ass!" Blanc roared angrily at Spybore. Her massive battleaxe was clenched tightly in both her hands and there was murder in her eyes. "After what you did to Rom and Ram, for Mina, for stealing my Sharicite Crystal, and for creating a warpath through my land!" With every mile they flew, Blanc had grown angrier at the sight of the devastation spread out beneath her. Her lands had been desecrated by this monster's armies of viral minions.

Blanc wouldn't be satisfied until he was hacked to pieces.

Ram floated down just behind Blanc with Rom at her side. The two of them pointed their staves at Spybore "Yeah! We're gonna blow you away!"

"Ka-Boom!" Rom exclaimed softly.

"We defeated you… once before," Future Rom added softly, "we will do so again."

Spybore eyed Future Rom curiously. Her, he had not expected. She was obviously not from this timeline and he knew the CPUs could not travel between time. Dimensions, yes, but that was something different. To travel through time one needed to be disconnected from time, and the CPUs were very much bound to it due to their shares.

"You… are a curiosity," Spybore said to Future Rom, ignoring Blanc and the other two completely. He had no interest in them, they were boring through and through. "The boring denizens of Gamindustri can't travel through time. Only one not of this boring Gamindustri can accomplish such a task." Spybore started to chuckle, a deep rumbling sound that shook the earth. "I see now what is going on. This is most certainly not boring. My carefully laid plans were all ruined because of him." Malicious Code was here, and he was manipulating everything from behind the scenes. Him, these CPUs, their little sisters, the heroes, the world itself. Everything.

It was positively devious of him. His little brother was manipulating the boring little Goddesses, making them dance upon the palm of his hand. While they were all focused on him, on Spybore, he was free to do whatever he wanted with them and they would never suspect a thing. It was such an elaborate scheme that Spybore couldn't help but be proud of his little brother, even if Spybore wanted nothing more than to rend him limb from limb.

Mother ignored the rest of them because _he_ was her favorite, and that did not sit well with Spybore, not one bit.

Even if by some miracle the CPUs were to defeat him here, it would not be the end. He would simply return to Viraldustri, free to infect some other dimension. All the while, Malicious Code would be insidiously infecting every aspect of this Gamindustri, turning it into a nightmarish hell from the inside out.

No one had successfully infected a Goddess before but if anyone could do it, it would be Malicious Code. It would certainly not be boring to see how they turn out after they were. Perhaps he would go easy on the CPUs, let them defeat him, just so he could see how this Gamindustri would turn out in the future. It was something not boring to look forward to.

"Will this nuisance be joining us today?" He had no intention of ousting his brother. Despite his dislike of the man, he did admire what he was trying to accomplish and it would be quite rude to interfere.

"We don't need Code to finish you off," Neptune declared fiercely. She held her sword in both hands at the ready. This was it, the pre-battle banter was about to wrap up and the final battle was about to begin. "We've been training hard for this battle, and we will defeat you!"

"I won't let you destroy Gamindustri! We'll kill you and stop the Viral War!" Nepgear joined her sister. Nepgear wouldn't let Planeptune fall into ruin like last time and she wouldn't let her sister become infected.

Spybore laughed once more and slowly pushed himself up from his chair. He opened his robe and threw it to the side. All the CPUs and CPU Candidates jerked in revulsion. "If I got a head for every time I heard you say that well..." He glanced down at the necklace he wore around his neck. It was a thick, black wire speared through the heads of all the Planeptune CPUs he had killed over the centuries. "Well I suppose I'd have fifteen or so, wouldn't I?" Fifteen different CPUs stared back at him from the necklace. Their expressions of pain and terror were simply too delicious to throw away. There were nine Plutias, four Neptunes, and two Nepgears. It was touch and go whether or not Plutia and Neptune ruled jointly, and Nepgear only appeared when there was a Neptune. "Come, let us see if you are better than your alternatives, although I don't expect you'll fare much better."

"You bastard!" Neptune roared in anger. Seeing her own head, twisted in pain, hung around that monster's neck was too much for her. "I'll kill you!" The words flowed out before she could stop them, although she doubted she would have wanted to even if she could. Rage was all she could feel right now.

Spybore simply roared with laughter.

Neptune couldn't take it anymore. She kicked off the air behind her and shot towards Spybore. It was time to finish this now.

"Neptune! Wait!" Nepgear shouted and raced after her.

"I've never seen Neptune worked up so much before, we need to back her up before she gets herself killed," Noire said as she quickly joined the fray.

"Sis, I'll back you up from over here," Uni said as she took up position to provide long range artillery support.

"Yes, we must, although I suppose I can understand her feelings somewhat," Vert said as she eyed the severed heads in disgust. "I most certainly have no desire to see what fate I suffered in those dimensions he destroyed."

"If those were my heads around his neck I'd be way more pissed off than Neptune is," Blanc added. Blanc's eyes lit up red as rage consumed her. "And he frickin ignored me too! I'm going to rip _his_ damn head off and fuckin murder the bastard with it!"

Blanc and Vert shot towards Spybore side-by-side to back Neptune, Nepgear and Noire up. The five up of them would be the front line attack team while Uni, Xone, Rom, Future Rom and Ram backed them up from afar.

Neptune's anger flared when Spybore's rocklike face split into a wide grin. He enjoyed her anger, but she wasn't in the mood to care. She was going to put him on the wrong side of her Neptune Break.

She attacked him head on with an overhead slash, the start of a long string of combos designed to build the EXE gauge. He caught that first strike in his enormous rock like hand and stopped the combo before it even really began.

Neptune's eyes widened in surprise at how easily her attacked was stopped. But she couldn't remain surprised for long as Spybore slammed an enormous grey fist into her side, sending her tumbling across the landscape. She plowed into a group of viral monsters and they immediately jumped on her. Their clawed hands, sharp teeth and other appendages attacked her from all angles.

She killed them all in a single sweep of her sword, filling the air with dark green and black pixels. They were nothing before her strength.

The others had attacked while she was down. Nepgear descended from above Spybore while six waves of energy converged on him from all directions. Noire was following just behind one of those waves, ready to strike the moment Nepgear finished hers.

Spybore plucked Nepgear from the air, snapping his enormous hand around her waist. He moved far faster than his huge frame might suggest. He ignored the six waves of energy and let them hammer into his body as he turned and whipped Nepgear at Noire. Noire weaved around the airborne Nepgear, only to slam roughly into a thick earthen wall Spybore had raised from the ground. The CPU of Lastation smashed through the wall and went tumbling to the ground, slightly dazed by the rough impact.

A large explosion blasted the battlefield with bright light and a burst of hot air as Uni's barrage slammed harmlessly against a rock barrier Spybore raised to protect himself from the attack.

And then Vert and Blanc were there, attacking from two sides. Spybore reached out to stop them but the two of them were having none of that. Vert used her high agility to slip around his arm and hammer a dozen punishing thrusts home before she passed Blanc and stopped on the other side. Blanc didn't try anything with quite so much finesse. She simply slammed her axe into Spybore's hand as hard as she could. The hand shattered in a thousand fragments. Several of them cut into Blanc leaving behind thing bloody lines on her arms and face but the triumphant look on her face made it clear she didn't care. Spybore was not nearly as happy, but was rather surprised by how powerful they were.

Eight high powered green laser beams slammed into his face, rocking his head back painfully which was followed up by dozens of ice lances that cracked his rock armor slightly. He rumbled in annoyance, just before Future Rom followed up with her own attack that encased his left arm in ice, and then shattered it, utterly destroying his arm.

"It seems you're not as boring as I had first assumed," Spybore rumbled as he glanced down at his destroyed arm. "There appears to be a bit more bite to your bark than the others had." The earth rose up from the ground and repair his ruined arm, returning it to its former glory. "Not that it means much in the end. It's like the difference between the touch of a feather and the bite of an insect. A nuisance and that is all."

"Well these nuisances are going to fricking kick your ass!" Blanc shouted at him.

"You can't beat all of us!" Neptune said as she floated over to join Noire and Nepgear as they floated up out of a pile of pixels belonging to the viral monsters they'd cut down.

Noire shot Neptune an annoyed look. "I hope you have a better plan than that stupid charge earlier, Neptune."

"I do, I'm fine now." She didn't know what had come over her, but her head was clear now. She wasn't going to win this battle by charging in, and she wasn't going to defeat Spybore alone. "Let's do this, together!"

"I'm right with you sis!"

And as one the ten of them attacked Spybore. The four CPUs and their little sisters gave it everything they had. They brought to bear every ounce of power and skill they could muster, hammering Spybore from all sides.

Slashes and thrusts, cuts and hacks and penetrating blows, came from all directions and in all manners. The air screamed and howled in their passage. Beams of energy, large and small and of a variety of different colors, slammed into Spybore from all sides, waves of power struck him from all angles. Balls of plasma rained from the sky unending, enveloping the area in countless explosions.

Pillars of flames and balls of fire scorched the land and burned the sky. Gusts of winds strong enough to snuff out a hurricane filled with piercing shards of energy howled across the landscape, breaking trees and sending the clouds running. Lances of cold, and rivers of ice froze the very air itself and shattered all it touched. Comets and Meteors rained from the heavens and shook the earth. The ground split, magma boiled and bubbled, mountains fell, lakes rose and froze.

The battle was felt clear across Gamindustri as the entire continent shook and quake with the force of the battle. The landscape there in northwestern Lowee would never be the same, forever scared and changed by the battle.

And within the midst of all that huge battle, taking the full brunt of the assault, Spybore stood strong. His earth barriers blocked what could be blocked, his hands stopped what could be stopped, and he moved when the land itself twisted and deformed beneath him.

But he could not stop it all. Attacks slipped through, and when they did, they were strong, strong enough to chip away at his incredible defenses. Limbs were destroyed and rebuilt over and over. Cracks gradually started to appear on his body and face. The cracks grew into fissures and then canyons as they connected with each other. Where there weren't cracks there were holes, and where there were neither, it was scorched, frozen, cut or dented. Two hours of constant assault finally brought the giant of a monster to his knees. The surface of his body so utterly devastated that one would be hard pressed to find a part of it that wasn't damaged in some way.

"This is the end!" Neptune cried out activated her Neptune Break. "Taste my steel and fall!" Neptune flashed across the battlefield, disappearing and reappearing all around Spybore. Each slash was accompanied by a sonic boom and with each slash a huge rent appeared on the surface on Spybore's body. "Neptune Break!" Neptune finished the attack with one last powerful strike that momentarily cut the fabric of Gamindustri and severed Spybore in half.

Neptune landed a distance away from him, her sword stretched out beside her as she posed after unleashing her finishing move. She panted heavily as she tried to catch her breath. She shot a glance back over her shoulder. Spybore was floating there in the air, the force of her attack had lifted him slightly off the ground. There was a tension in the air and no one moved as if waiting for something to happen.

A loud cracking noise started to fill the air as the stone like surface of Spybore's body became riddled with thousands of tiny cracks. Ugly black light began to seep through the cracks as they grew wider and more numerous. With a thunderous boom Spybore exploded. A powerful shockwave raced across the ruined landscape, knocked the CPUs and their little sisters to the ground and decimating what little remained of the viral horde that had initially backed Spybore.

Neptune quickly picked herself up off the ground and stared at where Spybore had once been. The monstrous twelve foot giant of a monster was gone, but Spybore himself was still there. What floated before them was something else entirely. It almost looked… human, with his faded blue jeans, leather boots, and green vest. He could have easily passed as a denizen of Gamindustri, a large human anyways, had it not been for the sickening green snarly hair, blood red eyes surrounded by inky darkness, onyx colored skin and the unmistakably foul miasma that emanated from his body.

"I am… surprised," Spybore said. His voice no longer rumbled like the earth, but instead carried a darkness that sent a cold chill running down Neptune's spine. "You are far stronger than I had anticipated. I had fully intended to let you win this boring conflict, just to see what my brother had in store for you," he shifted his gaze to the Future Rom who hovered protectively before the other Rom, "which is most likely why you were able to defeat me in your boring past. But now I'm not so sure. You are _too_ strong. As interesting as it is to watch CPUs go viral, I can't risk letting you live. Anything _too_ interesting must be disposed of."

"Oh look, the boss is going through his classic final speech. I'm quite certain that raises his death flag," Vert said, sounding confident in their victory.

Neptune felt confident as well. All their training had paid off. "Your guard is broken. There is nothing left to protect you. This is where you meet your end."

"Yes… my boring armor was destroyed," Spybore said, sounding rather upset by that fact. "It took me quite some time to think up that boring limiter." He turned his malevolent gaze upon her and Neptune had to force herself no to take a step back. That gaze was heavy. "It is true, that you can now harm me, but that would only be if I let you. For you see," he suddenly appeared in front of her faster than she could see, let alone react. The cold chill that ran down Neptune's spine gathered in the pit of her stomach and turned into full blown fear. "You will only touch me if I feel like slowing down enough to let you."

A hand suddenly palmed Spybore's face. His eyes widened in shock for a brief instant before he was hurled away from Neptune by a brilliant golden explosion.

"I would very much appreciate it if you didn't breathe on my wife, Spybore," Code said as he made himself known to everyone there. Histoire was with him, floating gently beside him at his waist. "I don't want her catching anything you might have."

"Wife? Is that what she is to you now?" Spybore started to laugh, a deep chilling laughter that made the fear bubbling within Neptune grow. The fear wasn't just for her though. She suddenly had visions of Code's impending death.

"Yes, she is," Code said as he stepped past Neptune towards the super villain. With each step he took the fear within her grew.

Neptune reached out for him, "Code, that's enough, this is our fight. We can still win—"

"Like hell you could win," Histoire snapped at her. Neptune jerked back in surprise as did the others. "I know you're stupid Neptune, but you're not that stupid. You were never supposed to _win_ this battle and Code damn well knew it." Histoire glanced at the rest of them, "and I seriously can't believe the rest of you idiots fell for it as well. Really, level two hundred? You honestly think that's enough to beat an extra-dimensional being whose level is over _five hundred_ but had the stats of someone much higher?"

"My, I think your Histoire might be malfunctioning, Neptune, did you by chance break her again?" Vert asked in a terse tone as she stared at Histoire warily.

"As vulgar as Histoire may be now, she does have a point," Blanc said as she rounded on Code. "What's the meaning of this, what the hell is going on here you bastard?"

Spybore started to laugh again, "so THAT'S what you did, Code! You replaced Neptune's boring Histoire with your own little spitfire! You really are pure evil! Where is Neptune's? Stuck in your book? Forced to suffer all the pain and suffering of Viraldustri as you slowly turn her viral?"

Neptune rounded on Spybore angrily, "what are you talking about? Code would never do that—"

"That was the original plan," Code said causing Neptune's heart to freeze instantly as she turned to stare at Code in horror. "If Histoire didn't willingly let go of her desire to initiate the Revival Protocol, I fully intended to _force_ her to let go." He shrugged. "She decided to stop of her own free will so there wasn't any reason to go that far." Code reached beneath his skirt and pulled out a book that Neptune now realized looked identical to the one Histoire always sat on. Code snapped the bindings on the book and flipped it open.

Histoire popped out almost immediately and looked around wildly, as if trying to figure out where she was. When her eyes landed on Neptune they widened in relief. "Neptune!"

"Histy? What's going on here?" Neptune demanded. She was utterly dumbfounded by the current turn of events.

"I would like to know as well, _Malicious Code_," Spybore drawled that name out. Neptune felt once more like she was just slapped in the face. The other's didn't look much better, especially Uni and Nepgear.

Code looked at Neptune's Histoire and pushed the Oracle towards Neptune. "I thought it was obvious. I had a change of heart and attached my book to this Gamindustri. So now Neptune has two Histy's to break over and over again."

"What!? I object!" both Histoire's snapped at him in unison.

Code chuckled and shrugged, "don't yell at me, she's the one that causes you two to go bonkers." He turned back to Spybore, "Histoire has no desire to initiate the Revival Protocol, am I right?" Code threw a glance over his shoulder at Histoire. Neptune watched as her Histoire flinched a little.

"And just what is this, Revival Protocol, you keep prattling about?" Noire demanded impatiently.

"Oh, nothing much," Code said with a simple shrug of his shoulders. Code's Histoire grinned at Neptune's and her Oracle shrunk in upon herself as if embarrassed about what was about to be revealed. "It was basically once the combined levels of all the Goddesses and their CPU Candidates reached one thousand, Histoire could initiate the Revival Protocol that would rip away every last ounce of power from all of you and funnel it into the Blank Slate, ie, Neptune, to be used as the new body for the revival of the True Goddess." He paused to let that sink in. "In case you were all unaware of what that means, if it worked it would ultimately mean that all of you will die, and Neptune would spend the rest of eternity locked in oblivion, tucked deep beneath the power and presence of the True Goddess, unable to ever resurface because she lacks a properly formed Ego."

Neptune couldn't believe her ears. This couldn't be true. "Histoire… please tell me Code is lying." She didn't want to believe this.

Histoire couldn't meet her eyes, and that was confirmation enough. "Code convinced me it's pointless to try." Histoire said in a small voice.

Spybore laughed uproariously, "Of course it's pointless!" Spybore threw Code a disappointed shake of his head. "A pity you told her, _brother_, we threw a party each time an Histoire blew up her boring dimension because she tried to revive that boring True Goddess."

Code… was an enemy? And Histoire had intended to use her as a sacrifice? Neptune felt cold inside, empty, hollow. She didn't know what to feel. Two of the three people she cared for the most ended up being something completely different. She desperately hoped this was little more than a bad dream and she would wake up at any moment.

Nepgear floated nervously forward a bit. "I'm confused… Histoire… Code…what's going on here?" Nepgear asked. There was fear in her voice.

"What the hell?" Uni demanded angrily, sounding just as confused as Nepgear. "Code fought alongside us in the Viral War, he did everything he could to level us up and…" she trailed off as Spybore started to laugh.

"Do you want to know why I'm here? Because he asked me to come here," Spybore pointed at Code. "You would have otherwise have been forced to face that boring weakling Arfoire if it were not for his personal request for me to intervene." Spybore spoke up before anyone else could, "It is simple, my _little_ _brother_, Malicious Code, the greatest Viral Mastermind to ever exist, has played you all for a bunch of boring fools! Ever since the very beginning. You were nothing but boring puppets dancing to his tune. But now that I've ruined his plans he's going to help me kill every last one of you and turn this boring dimension into a viral paradise!"

"Like hell we'll let him," Blanc roared angrily as she hefted her axe. She was just as confused as the rest of them but it was obvious she had no intention of standing around and letting everything be destroyed without a fight.

Neptune had no intention of letting that happen and was about to speak up when Code stopped her in her tracks.

"You're wrong Spybore, that's not what's going to happen."

"Oh?"

"Their power leveling wasn't pointless," Code said as he took another step towards Spybore. He was now thoroughly in the center of the circle Neptune and her allies made around Spybore. "They accomplished everything I had hoped for and their battle is almost over. There's just one final strike left for them to do." Code gestured at Spybore's current state. "They needed to break you out of your shell before they could do what needed to be done, and if they were not strong enough, you simply would have faked your own death." He shook his head. "I couldn't allow that."

"And now they'll never be able to catch me," Spybore said viciously. "I can kill them all in an instant."

"I can catch you," Code said softly.

Spybore wasn't smiling anymore. "What was that?"

"I said I can catch you," Code repeated. "I am the fastest out of the four of us." He reached behind his shoulder and pulled his double-bladed spear off his back. Code gave it a long glance before he tossed it to the side.

"Oi, Code, what the fuck do you think you're doing?" Code's Histoire demanded as she floated out over to him. "Don't tell me you're gonna do something stupid like tussle with you big brother. You can't beat him either!"

"You should go back, Histoire," Code told her.

Histoire spat on the ground. She floated up to his head and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Hell no, we've been together for almost ten thousand nightmarish years. You're not dumping me in the trash that easily. I'm yours until the end and you can take whatever opinion you have of that and cram it up your ass."

Code sighed and shook his head, "fine, do whatever you want."

"Always have."

"My, Code's Histoire appears to be just as vulgar as you are, Blanc," Vert said as she eyed the book cautiously.

"Oh shut up, thunder tits," Blanc snapped back.

"And what do you hope to accomplish by, catching me?" Spybore demanded. There was a bored expression on his face as he crossed his arms across his chest. "Your boring little Histoire spoke the truth. You can't beat me."

"No, I can't," Code agreed with him. He glanced back at Neptune and she could see the pain and sorrow in those eyes. Those weren't the eyes of a villain, but of someone who had done something they regretted and was willing to do anything to make things right. "And neither can they." Code turned away from Neptune and faced his brother once more. "But the True Goddess, she has the power to not only kill you, but to funnel the attack straight back to Viraldustri and wipe out your core and not just this…" he gestured at Spybore's body, "avatar of yours."

"Did you not just say that reviving the True Goddess would lead to our deaths and the destruction of Gamindustri?" Vert asked.

"There is little point in killing this Spybore if it means everything is else is destroyed as well," Noire added.

"I won't do it." There was a fierce determination on Histoire's face to resist anything Code may try to force her to do. "Sacrificing all of Gamindustri to kill this one man is not acceptable."

Neptune couldn't blame their thoughts. She felt the same, but at the same time, she felt that Code was referring to something else. He wasn't talking about the Revival Protocol. "Explain yourself properly, Code. I know you well enough to know that you're not talking about the Revival Protocol."

She couldn't see it, but she could sense the smile creasing his lips. "No, I'm not," Code agreed with her. "It's another reason you're all level two-hundred. Your combined levels are now over a thousand. The Revival Protocol isn't the only thing you now have at your disposal is it." Code looked over at Neptune's Histoire and gave her a lopsided smile.

Spybore looked almost angry now as he settled into a fighting stance ready to resist to the bitter end. He had already figured out what Code was talking about. "You're insane Malicious Code! Your time here has corrupted you!"

Histoire apparently did as well, both of them. Neptune's Histoire slowly licked her lips before speaking. "They… the CPUs and their little sisters can, for a brief moment, channel the full power of the True Goddess. And that one, singular moment, is all it would take to completely defeat Spybore."

Code smiled. "And not just here, but permanently."

With a soundless detonation the illusion covering Code's body disappeared. His once bright blond hair became a brilliant green and malevolent red eyes stared out from a sea of inky darkness. Much like his brother, his skin was like ash, darker than anything in Gamindustri, but a far cry from the onyx skin tone of Spybore.

"You ARE being corrupted! You make me sick!" Spybore spat at Code in disgust.

"If this is what it means to be corrupted, then my only regret was that it didn't happen fast enough," Code retorted.

The ground beneath Code cratered as he pushed off. The sound barrier shattered several times over as he pushed his body to hypersonic speeds. The distance between him and Spybore disappeared in an instant. Spybore roared as he met his brother head on. Fists lashed out with bone crushing force. Elbows were dropped with enough force to split the earth. Kicks capable of leveling mountains were clashed together. And the number of strikes each second were too numerous to count.

Spybore roared as he clashed with his brother. "You can't win!"

Code didn't even flinch as Spybore's hand tore through his stomach. "I don't need to win!" Code retorted as he ripped Spybore's arm from his shoulder. His face was contorted into a twisted mask of rage. "I just need to survive long enough for everyone else to kill you!" The two of them regenerated almost instantaneously.

And then things got weird. Both of them started to expand. Black inky tentacles erupted from Code's back and lashed out at Spybore, only to be blocked by odd rocklike protrusions that erupted seemingly at random from Spybore's body. A thousand tentacles erupted from various points on Code's body. As one they shot out at Spybore and wrapped around him, binding his limbs and body tightly together.

But Spybore retaliated as well and dozens of razor sharp protrusions erupted from his body and tore through Code's, tearing huge, gouging holes in him.

Code's Histoire helped out when she can, smashing the stone spears and trying to heal Code as best she could.

"Neptune, this is our only chance," Histoire's voice snapped her attention away from the strange, vicious battle unfolding before her. "Once Spybore defeats Code, all of Gamindustri will fall."

"Right." They needed to gather their power together to defeat that monster, but Neptune couldn't help but feel that there was something she was missing. "Is everyone else ready?" Neptune asked, looking around at her friends.

They were all there at her side, ready and willing. The ten of them flew up above the battle between Code and Spybore. Code was doing just as he said he would, keeping Spybore contained so he couldn't move, let alone run. With Spybore tied up as he was, even a child could hit him.

Nepgear took her right hand in hers and smiled at her. "Let's do this, Neptune! For Gamindustri!"

"I quite agree. We have come this far, it's far too late to back out. Besides, it is only right that the main character gets to strike the final blow," Noire said as she reached out and took Neptune's left hand. Uni was quick to latch onto Noire's other hand.

"Are you referring to me, or yourself?" Neptune asked with a small laugh.

There was a light smile on Noire's lips, a sharp contrast to the seriousness of the situation. "Me of course, I have my own game now as well."

"Well in that case, I'm the fricking main character too," Blanc said as she took Nepgear's hand in her own. "I have my own damn game too."

"Oi, what's with all of you trying to encroach upon my territory?" Neptune protested. This was definitely not fair.

"Well obviously Blanc is the best," Ram said as she took Blanc's hand.

"The best." The two Rom's agreed as they joined up with Ram.

"Well, I may not have my own game but I'm certainly not going to lose to any of you," Vert said as she grasped Uni's hand in her own and took Xone's in her other. "There are many areas in which Leanbox reigns supreme." She still managed to jiggle her breasts at Blanc despite her hands being occupied. Vert looked at Xone expectantly.

Xone coughed embarrassingly and jiggled her breasts as well. She hurriedly reached out and completed the circle by taking Future Rom's hand in her own.

"Don't go dragging you damn little sister into this bullshit as well, thunder tits!" Blanc roared at Vert.

"Oh my, is that jealousy I sense?" Vert teased.

"Now girls, you can argue later," Histoire said as she floated up to them. "We must rid Gamindustri of the menace known as Spybore. Please, channel all your share power together in the very center of your circle. With that I can direct it into a focused attack upon Spybore."

Ten pillars of light, purple, black, white, and green, shot into the air as the CPUs began to channel their share power. As the ten of them focused upon the center of the circle the pillars of light and energy bent and twisted until they were channeling into the very center of the circle. A multi-colored spark appeared as the powers combined to form something far greater than the sum of its parts.

"Damn you Malicious Code! Don't you understand what you're doing! If they attack, it'll obliterate you as well!" Spybore roared in a panic. Real fear was seeping into his mind and his struggles redoubled as he tried to tear himself from Code's embrace.

"I know," Code said.

That hit Neptune like a ton of bricks. That was what she had been missing. If Code was there restraining Spybore, then he would be caught up in the attack! He was Spybore's brother and the energy they were gathering wouldn't differentiate between the two. It would destroy them both.

She would lose him. He had known this was going to happen from the start. That was why he had seemed so sad. His death was inevitable, the only option.

Her will wavered and the purple beam faltered.

Code noticed.

"Forget about me Neptune!" he shouted up at her. "I'm a viral entity! A denizen of Viraldustri. I was the reason my Gamindustri fell in the first place. I infected Histoire and that changed the course of history."

"Oh fuck that, I've already forgiven you for doing that. In some ways, living like this is _far_ more enjoyable than that stuffy, always prim and proper life I lived before!" Code's Histoire replied. "Especially since I no longer have to keep my BDSM tendencies hidden like the other stupid Histoires."

"I do not have those tendencies!" Neptune's Histoire snapped back angrily.

"That's not what it sounded like yesterday!" Code's Histoire returned with a laugh.

"But you're not the same person you were then!" Neptune shouted back. "You've changed, we've all seen that change."

"The change came too late," Code replied. "If you need another reason, _I_ caused the Viral War!"

"What?!" They were all shocked by that.

"This was my first dimension to destroy, to break. I came here excited, started a war, infected monsters. The destruction of Planeptune was entirely my fault! It was me that infected Noire! I wanted to see you weep as Noire turned on you! I murdered Histoire! Hate me! Despise me!" He gritted his teeth in pain and strain as Spybore struggled against him.

His words didn't sway her heart an inch. Code was the cause of everything? It didn't matter. He was the cause of things that had yet to happen, and wouldn't happen because she wouldn't let them happen. And because he was trying to stop everything he had done, change the future, prevent the Viral War from ever happening.

"I don't care about what you did in another time in another place," Neptune snapped at him. "I only care about what you're doing here, now. And all I see is a man doing his utmost for the sake of Gamindustri!"

"I have tried everything to stop the Viral War, and I have failed every time," Code shouted back as he desperately tried to convince Neptune to go through with the attack. "The reason is because I exist, it has to be. Spybore and I, we exist outside of time. If you were to kill us here, now, our every action since leaving Viraldustri will be erased. I will never come here. The Viral War will never happen. The dimensions Spybore destroyed will be restored as well. You will bring peace back not only to this dimension, but a dozen others!"

Spybore roared with rage. "MALICIOUS CODE! I WILL **DESTROY** YOU!" The angry monster raged against Code's grasp. A hundred tentacles were ripped to shreds as Spybore freed an arm. He immediately rammed it through Code's heart and blew out the back a massive chunk of his innards.

"Hurry! I can't hold him back for much longer!" Code shouted up at Neptune.

"But!"

He looked up at her and gave her a smile filled with nothing but love. "It's alright. This is the only way." His smile somehow became even softer, even as Spybore ripped out more and more of his innards. "Your smile that can light up even the darkest of nights, shone light upon the darkness that existed within me. Your laughter that could bring cheer to the weariest of hearts, chased away the screams and terror that had been all I had known. Your positive attitude that could bring hope to those lost in the deepest depths of despair, showed me that there was a reason to look forward to tomorrow. And that blinding love that could sweep away all the sorrows of the world, gave me a glimpse at emotions I didn't know existed. I wanted to hold onto your light forever, but if I must give my life to protect that light, I will do so with a smile, the smile you taught me." He closed his eyes and smiled, a brilliant smile that matched Neptune's best. "Thank you for showing me that there was more to life than pain and suffering."

That wasn't fair! How could he say all of that while she was on the verge of utterly obliterating him? Her vision started to blur as tears began to cloud her vision. She couldn't even use her hands to wipe them away. It was unfair. Why did she have to start feeling for him, now, at the very end?

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she had always doubted his love for her, and that had prevented her from forming any real ties with him. His devotion never really made any sense to her. There was never any reason for it that she could see. But she knew the reason now. And if that wasn't enough of a reason to love someone, then there never would be.

"If… you were destroyed…" Future Rom said quietly. Yet despite the low volume it cut through the din of battle. "What would… happen to Virtual?"

Blanc jerked back as if slapped. Despite the child being dumped on her out of the blue, she was very endearing since Blanc so much of herself in the child. She would never admit it to anyone else but the little girl had already taken up residence inside her heart, right alongside Rom and Ram.

"She… would probably cease to exist," Code said uncertainly. "I don't like it either but… what's the alternative?"

"What about UbiSlyph? Or Valkyrie, Star and Ocean, would we forget about them too?" Nepgear asked. Understanding started to dawn on all of them on what Code's death would truly mean. _Everything_ that they knew would disappear and something else would be fitted in its place.

Code struggled to respond, whether it was because he was hesitant or because Spybore was ripping his lung out, it was hard to tell. "Yes."

Vert seemed somber as well. "Would Neptune have arrived in Leanbox were it not for you? It was only her presence that saved my precious Xone. Without you, I dare say, I would not have a little sister."

"I did play the part of Random NPC 60173… so…" Code sighed. "Yes, it's quite possible Xone would… never have lived long enough to be found by you if it weren't for my interference." It had been like that the first time as well, albeit through a different means. It hadn't been Neptune the first time that had saved her, rather it had been his influence that had caused the monsters to attack Xone's town earlier and thus Xone had met up with Vert at the entrance of the cave, instead of deep inside.

Xone's eyes widened in shock. "I exist… because of you?"

This was getting way too heavy for Neptune. So many people they'd come to know and care about would up and vanish with Code's death. Saving Gamindustri this way seemed like it would come at too high a cost.

"And I guess my NEP pudding would disappear, too," Neptune added. There was little reason for Code to answer that question, she already knew it.

They all knew the true results now. True, the Viral War would be averted but there had been many good things alongside the bad. To have to go back to the way they were just seemed too cruel a fate.

"Yes, everything would disappear. I would keep the goods parts if I could but I can't. At least you wouldn't remember, only Histoire would…" Code coughed up some blood as Spybore removed his other lung, "b-but… do you… really have any… other choice?" His voice came out harsh and raspy.

"Yes," Future Rom said. She pulled Rom and Xone together and made them hold each other's hands, breaking her connection to the circle.

"Rom! What are you doing? Get back in the circle!" Blanc snapped at Future Rom.

"Don't go Rom! Let's play more games!" Ram cried out to her second twin.

Future Rom shook her head. "No." She flew down to Code and Spybore. "If everything… disappears. Rom will disappear."

Blanc's eyes widened in surprise. Despite the fact that they knew everything would revert and disappear. She hadn't realized that it would mean that Future Rom would cease to exist as well.

"Rom… will hold bad man in place," Future Rom said as she gently touched Code's back. She looked up at Ram and Rom floating in the sky and smiled at them. "Rom… had fun. But Ram is not Rom's sister. You look… the same, you smell… the same, you talk… the same but… you don't feel the same." Rom's smile trembled and wavered. "I don't want to live without Ram."

"Don't be stupid, you stupid head!" Future Rom's second staff, the one that had belonged to Ram coalesced before her. A translucent, ghostly image of a more battle seasoned Ram in her HDD form appeared around the staff. "We will always be together!"

"Ram!"

"Now let's beat this stupid head and be together!"

Rom smiled at her sister and nodded her head vigorously. "Uh-huh!"

The two future versions of the CPU Candidates of Lowee grabbed Code. His tentacles froze and the ice quickly encased Spybore as well, leaving only Code's main body untouched.

"Wait! But…"

"Shut it meanie!" Ram cut Code off. She and Rom ripped him away from Spybore and hurled him away from the center. Code's Histoire let out a yelp of pain as Code landed on her. "Only cowards run from their responsibilities!" The two sisters quickly took up positions on either side of Spybore and continued to channel their energy into the ice that encased the super villain. Despite their efforts, the ice still started to crack. Their trap wouldn't keep Spybore contained for long.

"My, I can't believe a child would take the words right out of my mouth," Vert said idly. "If you truly have committed such heinous crimes, then would not the proper course of action be to live and redeem yourself? To make amends to those that you have wronged?" The CPU of Leanbox shifted her eyes to stare at Neptune.

"Dying is just the cowards way out, I didn't take you to be a coward, Code," Noire jabbed him as well. "And besides, I still have to pay you back for that torture you put me through these past two months!"

"I frickin told you I'm not raising Virtual alone, and I damn well mean it!" Blanc snapped angrily at Code. "So you're not allowed to go dying on me! And I still have to kick your ass for all the trouble you've caused me!"

Neptune nodded her head and smiled at Code, "you're my husband, Code. That comes with duties and responsibilities I intend to see you do. You're not allowed to die until I say so, and I don't say so. Besides, to make sure the Viral War isn't started by anyone else, I need to keep you at my side to counter-act any virus that may arise."

There was an expression of wonderment and disbelief on Code's face as he looked up at them. He had not expected to be accepted so easily after revealing that he was the cause of everything. "You all…"

"Talk later," Neptune's Histoire barked sharply. "The power is gathered! It must be unleashed before Spybore breaks free or everything will be destroyed!"

"Right!" Neptune and the others agreed.

Future Rom smiled at her sister as the power above started to form the final strike. "I love you… Ram."

"I love you too, Rom! We'll always be together!"

"Damn it all!" Blanc roared as the power built into a crescendo.

Then with a harmonized noise that drowned out all else, the combined power of all the CPUs and CPU Candidates of Gamindustri struck with enough force to change fate. A pillar of multicolored energy consumed Spybore along with Ram and Rom. The sound of the strike drowned out any cries they may have heard. Spybore it obliterated viciously, tearing him to pieces, scorching his existence. It rode his connection straight back to Viraldustri and purified his core, filling that dark dimension with a brief, bright flash of light that incinerated all that Spybore had once been.

As for Rom and Ram. The light recognized their sacrifice. For them there was no pain. Instead the power enveloped them in a warm, gentle light, like a mother's embrace, and gently scrubbed them from Gamindustri.

"It is done," Histoire said, breathing out a sigh of relief. "Spybore has been destroyed, even his core. Even now I can feel the dimensions he destroyed returning to normal."

Code sighed and slowly sat up, "and I can feel this one shifting as well."

"What do you mean?" Neptune demanded worriedly. "You're still here, there should be no change." This wasn't what was supposed to happen. With Code still alive everything should have continued as normal.

The air and the fabric of Gamindustri started to waver and shift as if everything was turning to water. Code reached out and touched the fabric and a ripple raced across it. "Spybore… is no more. Just as the other dimensions came back, everything that Spybore had done to this dimension will disappear as well. Who knows what we'll end up with now." He let out a long sigh. "In a way, I only ever left Viraldustri because of Spybore's rampage through the dimensions. It inspired me to go out and try my own hand. If that never happens… what reason would I have to even leave in the first place?"

"Then what's going to happen?" Neptune demanded. This didn't seem like the fairy tale ending that normally happened in the games she played.

"I don't know," Code said honestly. He pushed himself up off the ground and dusted off his black skirt and shirt. "I guess we'll just have to wait and find out. We're out of time." They could all see the changes that were happening around them. The landscape below them was shifting and changing, returning to its former beauty before Spybore ruined it.

Neptune broke the link and quickly flew down to Code. "You WILL find me if I forget about you," Neptune ordered him. "I'm not losing my pudding!"

Code quirked an eyebrow at her. "Is pudding all you care about?"

Neptune smiled at him. "No," she kissed him. "Not anymore. I don't want to lose you either." She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him soundly. If things were going to reset, then she wanted the very last moment to be like this. She felt his arms come up around her…

And push her away.

"I'm sorry Neptune," Code said softly as he took a step back from her. Code's Histoire floated up to his shoulder, she looked as sad as he did, as if she knew what he was going to do next. "Even if I survive, even if I remember, I can never return. I am the source. So long as I am here, the Viral War will always happen, and the vicious cycle will continue to repeat."

No, no this was wrong. "W-What are you saying?"

"It's Rootkid, isn't it," Neptune's Histoire said softly as she floated over to Neptune's shoulder. It was just the four of them here now, the two Histoires along with her and Code. Everyone else was gone. "If you don't die, he'll still have the virus you created, the idea to start Viral Wars. He'd…"

"He'd simply start it up again, regardless of my presence. He's not very good at creating new things, but he's a master at modifying them," Code said softly. "Rom mentioned both Nepgear and Neptune going viral. He changed my virus to do that, and took me back to Viraldustri when I tried to confront them. I am the source, but he's now the cause. If I'm not killed, then the only way to stop the war, is to stop him. "

Code's Histoire floated forward a bit, "Histoire, you should have this," she said and tossed a tiny clear crystal to her.

Histoire caught the Crystal and gasped in surprise. "This is a piece of the True Goddess! This is why your Code was able to change!"

Code's Histoire smiled, "I don't expect to survive when we return and I don't want Virullial to find that. Farewell."

Code gave Neptune one last smile. "Goodbye, Neptune. Thank you, for giving all these wonderful memories."

And with that he turned and walked away, his Histoire floating faithfully above his shoulders.

"No!" Neptune reached out for him and watched as her hand dissolved before her eyes. Gamindustri was nearly reset, and now it was her time. "It's not supposed to end like this!"

And then she was alone, Code's form disappearing into the white distance. Brilliance covered her vision and a harmonized noise filled her ears. She could smell nothing and feel nothing. Gamindustri was reset.

"I love you…" a hauntingly familiar voice she couldn't quite place reached her ears.

And then there was nothing.

She was reset.

* * *

**Note about Xone's transformation:** There is a white version of the Xbox One and the weapon platforms are supposed to be Halo'ish.

Anyways, how's that for an ending?


	20. Epilogue

**Disclaimer: I do not own Hyperdimension Neptunia. All characters, thoughts and ideas that exist in this story that were taken from the original works belong to their creators, Compile Heart and Idea Factory. Only original thoughts and or characters created in this story are my own.**

**Chapter 20: Epilogue**

Her fingers flashed over the controller: Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A. Her character initiated a massive combo on her opponent, flashing through a series of kicks and punches before ending with beam attack.

Before the beam attack could initiate, her opponent initiated a combo breaker and smacked her in the face. She watched her character fly backwards and flop on the ground. The letters K.O. popped up on the screen.

Game. Set. Match.

"Hey! That's not fair!" She had lost for the third time in a row. This just wasn't fair. No matter how good she got, she was always beaten.

"Can't beat me," the girl sitting beside her said. The girl was dressed in a soft white dress with blue fringes and had a large white cap on her head. She shook her head, short brown hair with fascinating green tips waved in the air. "Virtual Fighter is my game."

"You're a meanie Virtual, you gotta let me win sometimes! This isn't fair," she whined and complained. Virtual was her only real friend, the only person close to her age.

Virtual stared at her for a long moment causing a heavy silence to fill the small game room within Planeptune's Basilicom. Then without warning Virtual bopped her on the head. "You never let me win Ultimate Neptunia," Virtual returned in a soft voice.

Virtual had adopted much of Blanc's personality over the years. She was calm and soft spoken, unless one was to really upset her. Then she blew up in a raging, cursing fit, much like her mother. Although unlike her mother, she preferred a double-bladed spear and tended to use it quite a bit more liberally than her mother used her hammer.

Thankfully it was only a spongy NREF spear, so it didn't actually hurt when you got hit by it.

"That's different!" She was always supposed to win. It was written somewhere in some contract, it had to be, she just needed to find that contract to prove it. She glanced around the room and noticed that two people who were usually there, weren't. "Where are Rom and Ram?" She hadn't noticed before in her excitement to play with Virtual, but the two CPU Candidates of Lowee weren't with Virtual. That was strange considering the four of them often played games together.

"Dealing with a long-tongue freak back in Lowee," Virtual said softly as she followed her gaze. "I didn't want to be licked all over so mommy flew me over here."

"Blanc's here?" Blanc usually brought her some cool comics to read and stuff. The current series she was hooked on was the story about an evil viral monster that was on a long arduous quest to redeem himself and become an upstanding citizen of Gamindustri.

Surprisingly it was a major hit across all Gamindustri. It was one of the top selling pieces of work. No one knew who the author was, they went by the penname NotBlanc, but she hoped to someday meet the author and get an autograph on her copies of the manga.

Virtual nodded and pointed out the door. "Mommy is with Neptune and Nepgear."

"Really? Yay! I wonder if she has the next in the series!" She tossed the controller down, the game completely forgotten, and raced across the room and out the door. She bounced off the far wall of the hallway outside and sprung down the hallway, following her nose.

She could always trust her nose. The smell of pudding was ingrained in her very instincts. She could sense when a new package was being opened a mile away and smell it from five hundred paces. It got pretty crazy when she was in the city but she managed.

Her nose led her to the main Basilicom room where she found Neptune, Nepgear and Blanc all talking quietly together, or rather Nepgear and Blanc were talking quietly. Neptune was as animated and cheerful as ever. Her long purple hair bounced wildly of the back of her black hoodie with each exaggerated and animated wave of her arms. Histoire was there as well, her book laid out flat across the desk Neptune was sitting at.

Neptune was doing work, or had been before Blanc had arrived with Virtual. The stack of papers and reports on the desk were definitely smaller than it had been when she had first woken up. On the desk beside the papers was a small metal tray with a half a cup of tea, some cookies and an open container of pudding.

A warm feeling bubbled up inside her as she stared at Neptune. "Mommy!" she shouted happily and raced across the floor.

Neptune turned around and grinned when she saw her. "Uranus, how are you my little pudding!"

Uranus leapt up and dove into her mother's bosom with a flying hug. She wiggled in her mother's lap until she was sitting in it normally, looking out over the desk. "You ate it all," Uranus complained as she noticed the empty pudding container on the metal tray.

Neptune chuckled and stroked Uranus' long red hair. "It's ok, there's plenty more in the fridge."

"I'll go get some more custard pudding," Nepgear offered and started across the room towards the kitchen.

"Don't forget the drinks, Nep Jr.! Gotta have something to wash down all that awesomeness."

"I want orange juice!" Uranus called out to her aunt cheerfully.

Nepgear smiled at her. "Alright, I'll be right back."

Neptune hugged Uranus tightly causing the little girl to squawk. "You're just so cute. You're so totally worth the pain of popping you out."

Uranus didn't want to know that, she wanted to know something else. "When am I gonna have a little sister?" Neptune coughed and spluttered. "You have a little sister. I want a little sister too! Then she can pamper me all day long and bring me snacks and beat Virtual for me in all her games!"

"Not happening," Virtual said, suddenly appearing at Uranus' side.

"Nepuu!" Uranus jerked back in shock. "When did you get here? Are you like some stealthy ninja?"

There was a deadpanned expression on Virtual's face. "I walked," she said softly before turning away from her and making her way over to her mother, Blanc.

"She's as scatter-brained as you sometimes, Neptune," Blanc said. There was a small smile on her face as she draped an arm down Virtual's front. "I'm glad my daughter hasn't picked up whatever your daughter has."

"Father is an idiot too," Virtual went quiet and stared at the ground. "I miss him." Blanc rubbed her head comfortingly. Virtual seemed to know who her father was, but she wouldn't say anything about him when asked.

Virtual was an oddity. She had shown up at Lowee's Basilicom not long after Neptune found out she was pregnant. The little girl had latched onto Blanc right away and refused to let go. Blanc had been completely bewildered at first, but Virtual had a way of growing on people and now Blanc completely accepted her as if she had given birth to the little girl herself.

Uranus tugged on the strings to Neptune's hoodie. "Mommy, who is daddy? You never talk about him."

Neptune felt a pang of loneliness but she kept a cheerful smile on her face, just for her daughter. "Ah well, you see, he's out and about doing this and that," she lied like she had every other time. She had no idea where her father was.

Or even who he was.

She only knew that she had cared for him. The feelings were still there, but the memories were not.

"Well bring him home! I want a little sister!"

Neptune started to laugh sheepishly. She didn't know what to say to that.

As for another child… maybe it would be alright if they were as cute as Uranus, but to be honest, Neptune was out of names. And it didn't feel right to just sleep with a random NPC just to satisfy Uranus' desire to have a little sister.

And then there was the whole pain of having to stay in her HDD form for nine months straight. For some reason she'd been stuck in her HDD form the entire time she was pregnant with Uranus.

But having a second Uranus to hug and squeeze and play with was something she could get behind.

If only she could remember…

Virtual tugged on Blanc's dress. "Will I get a little sister too?" she asked with eyes filled with innocence and curiosity. "I don't like two-on-one."

Blanc started to sweat heavily. "You don't need a little sister, you have Rom and Ram."

"I want a little sister though!" Virtual complained. "I don't wanna be the youngest!"

"There are some things one must consider first, Virtual," Blanc said as she tried to reason with her daughter.

Virtual started to tug more insistently on Blanc's dress. "No! I want a little sister! Gimmie a little sister! I want a little sister!"

Blanc simply stared down at her daughter with a blank look on her face. She had no idea how to handle this situation. What Virtual was asking for felt like she was asking for the moon.

And Uranus wasn't about to be beaten by Virtual in any way. She tugged on Neptune's hoodie strings again. "Mommy! I want two little sisters!"

Neptune went pale. She had a sinking feeling that she knew where this was going to head and she wasn't going to like it.

"I want three little sisters!" Virtual demanded Blanc.

"Mommy! I want four!"

"Five!"

Neptune and Blanc shared harried looks. The numbers their daughters were shouting out grew larger and larger until they reached the realm of absurdity where it would take longer than their life spans to pop out enough children to meet their demands.

"Heh heh… well… your dad isn't here so it's going to have to be zero I'm afraid," Neptune said, bursting her daughter's bubble. Nepgear returned just then carrying a small tray with a pudding and a glass of orange juice. Perfect timing. "Off you go now Uranus, Nep Jr. is back with some delicious pudding!"

"Pudding?" That perked Uranus up just as Neptune had thought it would. Pudding was the cure-all in their little family. Uranus hopped off Neptune's lap and raced over to Nepgear. "Pudding!" she shouted happily as she raced around Nepgear excitedly.

"Calm down Uranus," Nepgear said gently. Neptune indicated to her little sister that she should take Uranus away so she could finish her work. "I'll give you your pudding. Come with me, we can play some games together."

"Yay! Pudding and games!"

Virtual left Blanc's side and hurried after Uranus and Nepgear. "I want games too."

Neptune smiled as she watched Nepgear escort her daughter and Virtual from the room. The little girl seemed to have completely forgotten about wanting to have more little sisters, which was just fine in Neptune's books.

"Those two are gonna be inseparable when they're older," Neptune said after the three of them were gone.

"They already are," Blanc said softly. She gave Neptune an inquisitive look. "I had assumed you would be a failure of a mother when I learned you were with child, but you turned out better than I had thought."

"Aw, thanks Blanc!" Neptune said cheerfully. She had definitely been forced to do some growing up but Histoire had been there for her along with everyone else. No one really wanted to leave her to her own devices those first couple years. There had been a few times Neptune had caught Vert trying steal Uranus by convincing her that Vert would make a better mother than Neptune. "Little Virtual didn't turn out too badly either."

"Of course not, I raised her."

"Things certainly have quieted down ever since we defeated Arfoire, the Deity of Sin," Neptune commented idly as she turned back to her paper work. There wasn't very much left and she'd only had to turn down two proposals for building permits that would have seen nature parks turned into industrial parks.

The latest report just wanted permission for a new village to be founded on a recently discovered island off the west coast of Planeptune. She saw no issue with that, it wasn't part of Planeptune yet and the village would bring it under her control. That request was given a stamp of approval.

"For the best," Blanc said. The small CPU of Lowee made her way over to one of the few chairs in the room and settled herself down in it. "Raising a child during a time of conflict is difficult."

"You think raising one is hard, try carrying one," Neptune said with a little laugh. She patted her stomach. "My stomach was a huge target that whole time. Arfoire kept trying to stick a spear through it."

"Not my fault you let yourself get knocked up by some random NPC while we were dealing with Arfoire."

He hadn't been a stranger. Not to her at least. Or at least she didn't think he was. These feelings of her certainly couldn't be attributed to a random NPC. It was strange. She felt like she knew who it was that had been the father but…

Whenever she tried to think about who the father was, she came up with nothing. And Histoire had refused to mention anything about him. Histoire had said though that the immunity to the Virus status that floated above her head was a result of his efforts as well, so was her sudden physical aging.

Nepgear had the same immunity as well for some reason, even before she became the CPU Candidate of Planeptune. Histoire had been insistent that she go out and find Nepgear one day and had found her just outside Nep Tower, staring up at it in confusion. There was a look on her face that she felt like she belonged up there, but couldn't figure out why.

Of course accepting Nepgear had caused a ripple effect across Gamindustri. Lastation and Lowee had both been quick to find their own little sisters.

Leanbox was the only one without a little sister. Vert had found a Sharicite crystal for her though. It rested on a small cushion in her room. But so far no one had been found that could match the requirements to become CPU Candidate.

Vert did well to hide her disappointment, but it was clear to all of them that she was hurting inside.

Neptune sighed as she read over the next report, it was four hundred pages. It was a dumbed down analysis of the Planetpune's yearly income. A budget report. It didn't need to have anything done to it per-say. One had to analyze it to find deficiencies, excess, signs of embezzlement and other distasteful things. Despite her newfound desire to work, she had no stomach for that sort of work.

"I'll handle this, Neptune," Histoire said as if reading her mind. Her little Oracle took the budget report and tucked it away beneath her.

"Thanks, Histy."

"I'm leaving," Blanc said in her usual quiet voice.

"What about lil' Virtual?" Neptune asked her curiously. "Aren't you afraid I'll corrupt her?"

"I believe my little Virtual is old enough to sort reality from your craziness," Blanc returned evenly. "I don't want to leave Rom and Ram to deal with CFW Tricks alone for too long."

"Ah, right, that guy, you still haven't caught him yet? Is Blanc getting old?"

"Shut up, Neptune. He's as slippery as they come, but we'll catch them." Blanc started for the balcony. "I'll return for Virtual once the creep has been caught and properly punished."

"I'll be sure to lure little Virtual over to the dark side by the time you return," Neptune waved to her friend cheerfully.

Blanc shot her one last annoyed look before she transformed into her HDD state and blasted off into the sky, leaving behind a trail of white energy.

Once Blanc was gone Neptune turned back to the desk and realized all the paperwork was done. "Woohoo! It's time for me to join in with the gaming!"

"Not too long, Neptune," Histoire said sternly, "even if the paperwork is all done you still need to keep doing quests! I won't let you slack off and let out shares drop."

"Don't worry your little tootsie, Histy, I'll train later, but games first!" Neptune shot out of the main room and down the hallway Nepgear had disappeared with Virtual and Uranus.

Histoire remained behind as Neptune disappeared to play games. She let out a long sigh and reached into her pocket, pulling out a large clear crystal. It was the crystal Code's Histoire had given her before disappearing into the void and it was far larger than before.

The True Goddess really had been a remarkable woman. Histoire could feel her presence through the crystal. While she could not communicate with her, not directly, she could feel her feelings. She was content with the way things were. She was happy with the current CPUs. Code had been right, much to her annoyance.

And within that clear crystal swirled streams of energy, white, purple, green and black. The memories of a time before this one. The True Goddess had stored them there, just in case. Histoire was supposed to restore their memories, but she had refrained from doing so. The CPUs of this time were happier the way they were. There was bliss in ignorance.

And their ignorance allowed them to move forward without the scars of what could have been weighing them down. Vert in particular would be devastated to learn that Xone was dead.

Histoire tucked the crystal away and glanced up, gazing towards the gaming room where the others would be. She should have expected that Virtual would survive the reset. Her heritage made her half viral. That was a secret Histoire would take to the grave. She had managed to survive the reset because she existed outside the rules of this Gamindustri, just like Neptune's budding child had. Thankfully Blanc had been just as accepting of Virtual this time around as she had been the first.

And Neptune being Neptune, hadn't really protested her own child, although she had pressed for information Histoire didn't want to give.

Couldn't give.

Neptune and her friends, the other CPUs. They were a motely bunch, but they always did the right thing. If they knew of the sacrifice that was made on their behalf they would insist on doing something about it, even if meant attempting a disastrous invasion of Viraldustri.

She felt the clear crystal pulse with disapproval but Histoire ignored it.

Histoire sensed someone appear beside her.

"Report," Histoire said softly.

"There is not much to report," the soft spoken woman behind her said. "There have been no dimensional disturbances and the rate of viral infections in monsters has remained unchanged from the moment you requested our services."

"Thank you, you're dismissed UbiSlyph."

"Of course, Histoire."

UbiSlyph disappeared.

Even if Code was back in Viraldustri holding Rootkid at bay, they always needed to remain on watch. Histoire knew first hand just how fragile this peace they had was.

The invasion could come at any time, for a multitude of reasons.

Histoire thought back to the crystal that Code's Histoire had given her. In Viraldustri, the True Goddess' power hadn't been dispersed into eight different Sharicite Crystals like it had here. It had been consumed by Virullial and the four evils that had helped bring about her downfall.

But Histoire, Code's Histoire, had managed to save a tiny fragment of her. It must have been all that had kept her going in that nightmarish dimension call Viraldustri. Histoire knew it was the presence of that fragment that had helped shift Code over the course of ten thousand years from the monster that he was, to the person that he became today. The Malicious Code that Histoire was acquainted with would never have been influenced by Neptune's personality. Not in a million years. He had been the worst of the four, the most evil, the most manipulative, the cruelest, the one to start the war between the True Goddess and Virullial.

He had been Virullial's favorite.

Virullial would no doubt come. She wouldn't take Malicious Code's transformation very well and once he was subjugated would search for the cause of that change. But for now, Gamindustri knew peace. And so long as Histoire remained vigilant, and Neptune didn't let her skills dull, they would be ready for her eventual invasion.

"Now, I need to make preparations for the yearly CPU conference," Histoire said quietly.

There was much to do. Joy to be had, tears to be shed, and battles to be fought.

But that was all for another time, and perhaps, another story.

Fin.

* * *

**Final Words and Thoughts:** Well, my story is done. There are definitely a few flaws in it, but it is much better than my previous story, that's for sure. Some people may not like a certain character in the story *cough* Code *cough* that's really just a matter of preference. From a character perspective, there was nothing wrong with him. He was strong, sure, intelligent, yes, but he had flaws, he failed, he had a unique personality, he experienced growth and change. Hate him if you want, but he was a well-formed character.

Code was literally the reason I wrote the story. All stories/novels are basically a wish fulfillment given form, even the professional ones. There is nothing wrong with this. Everyone has a reason why they start to write. That reason, that wish, is the focal point of their stories. The good ones just hide it so well you can't decipher it beneath the great story, or care if you do. Code is my wish. Neptune is my favorite character in the series and I wanted to pair her with someone, the rest of the story basically revolved around that. However I just didn't want to throw in a random person, so I created a complex character with Code and a complex situation around him. Love him or hate him, he was the reason I wrote this story.

On the note of wish fulfillment, the story doesn't actually fulfill my wish there at the end, but it writes better with this ending than the one I had been aiming for since the start.

And for those that don't believe Neptune and Co. would forgive Code so easily for being the cause of everything. Well... the Hyperdimension Neptunia universe is built upon a foundation of friendship and forgiveness. Just look at HDN Re;Birth 1 where the true ending has Neptune actually going out of her way, almost sacrificing herself, to REDEEM Arfoire, the final boss. Forgiveness and acceptance is a common theme throughout all the HDNs.

Anyways as some may have noticed the ending really looks like it could be the beginning of a new story, and there are plenty of other villains that I can add in the future (Rootkid, Malwhore, Virullial, etc., etc.,). It's deliberate. If I wish to pick this up again with a sequel, I can. As it is, it's a full-fledged self-contained story. I decided to end it here instead of going on to ensure that you, the readers, at least got a complete story you can read, even if not everything has been resolved nice and tidy like and the ending isn't what I would call your stereotypical fairy tale ending.

Whether there is a sequel will depend on if anyone actually wants to read a sequel. Otherwise, you can probably consider this my first, and final, foray into the HDN Fan Fic universe. Not because I hate it, but simply because I have no more ideas I wish to write about.

And no, that's not an opening to offer up challenges. I don't do challenges on sheer principle.

So on that note, I would like to thank everyone for taking the time to read my story, and a special thanks to those that reviewed it and gave me their feedback, both positive and negative, over the course of the story.

* * *

**Ages/Levels (As of the final battle against Spybore)**

**Oracles**  
Histoire – Age – 12,000  
Level 150

Mina – Age – 35  
Level 5

Kei – Age – 29  
Level 21

Chika – Age – 25  
Level 3 (?)

**CPUs**  
Blanc – Age – 415  
Level 224

Neptune – Age – 279  
Level 250

Noire – Age – 254  
Level 241

Vert – Age – 245  
Level 219

**CPU Candidates**  
Nepgear – Age – 17 (79)  
Level 249

Uni – Age – 16 (78)  
Level 248

Xone – Age – 16  
Level 207

Rom – Age – 12  
Level 194

Ram – Age – 12  
Level 194

Rom – Age – 21 (Future)  
Level 419

**Other Characters**  
Falcom – Age – 22  
Level 165

IF – Age – 19  
Level 171

Compa – Age – 19  
Level 143

Gust – Age – 15  
Level 601

**Original Characters**  
M. Code – Age – 10,790  
Level 421

UbiSlyph – Age – 27  
Level 144

Neverlan – Age – 20  
Level 62

Otome – Age – 19  
Level 61

Mate – Age – 19  
Level 63

Spybore – Age – 11,101  
Level 550

Mr. Rabbit  
Level 999

Mr. Rabbit's Mother  
Level Mom


End file.
